Chapter 909 Return

"Tell me, how are Lucius Malfoy these days? I hope he's happy that his pup is studying at Hogwarts, isn't he?"

"Speaking of dogs," Snape said softly, "you know the last time Lucius Malfoy recognized you when you were out for a walk? Be smart, Black, and get yourself to a safe station. Was seen on the platform. Giving you a cast-iron window out of your hiding hole later, wasn't it supposed to be in, oh, I remember, Norway, with those bats?"

Sirius raised his wand. "No!" Harry shouted, jumping over the table and trying to get between them.

"Sirius, no!" Fan Lin shouted, knowing that there would be problems if the two of them were together.

"Are you saying I'm a coward?" Sirius shouted, trying to push Harry away, but Harry wouldn't move away.

"Why, yes, I suppose I am," said Snape. "Harry - out of here!" shouted Sirius wildly, pushing him aside with his other hand.

"Get aside." Snape said, pushing Fanlin aside without hesitation, "I need to give this mad dog some guidance..."

The kitchen door opened and the entire Weasley family, plus Hermione, came in, all looking very happy and wearing a striped nightgown covered by a rubber sheet. Mr. Weasley walked proudly together.

"Cure!" Weasley announced loudly in the kitchen. "Completely cured!"

Then he, like all Weasleys, was stunned at first, staring blankly at the scene in front of them. The action was also interrupted in the middle, with Sirius and Snape looking at the door while their wands exchanged. Pointing at each other's faces, Fanlin and Harry stood in the middle, trying to stop the two from attacking each other.

"Merlin's beard," Mr. Weasley sighed, the smile gradually disappearing from his face, "What are you doing here?"

Sirius and Snape both lowered their wands. Fan Lin looked at one, then at the other. Everyone looked at each other with expressions of extreme contempt, still unable to imagine what it would feel like to have so many witnesses pouring in through the entrance at once.

Snape put away his wand and walked through the kitchen without saying a word to Weasley.

At the door, he looked back.

"Six o'clock, Monday evening, Potter." And off he went.

Sirius glared behind him, his wand at his side.

"What's going on here?" Mr. Weasley asked again.

"Nothing, Arthur," said Sirius, panting as if he had just run a long distance. "Just a friendly chat between two old friends from school." He smiled at what looked like a monumental effort.

"So, you're cured? That's great news, really great news."

"Yes, isn't it?" said Mrs. Weasley, leading her husband towards a chair. "Stephen, the witch doctor, eventually used his magic to create an antidote to the bat's fangs."

"And Arthur also learned Muggle medicine, didn't he, dear?" Mrs. Weasley added, looking a little unhappy.

"Yes, Molly, darling," Mr. Weasley said meekly.

"It's good to see you back, Mr. Weasley."

The dinner was a happy one, and the joy of Mr. Weasley's return washed over them.

Harry could see Sirius trying to do this, but when his godfather wasn't paying attention to him, laughing at Fred and George's jokes or offering them more food, it showed on his face again Out of melancholy, pensive face.

Harry, who had been artificially separated by Mundungus and Mad-Eye, celebrated with Mr. Weasley.

He wanted to talk to Sirius and tell him to ignore what Snape said. Snape was deliberately irritating him. Others did not think that Sirius, who was left in the old house by Dumbledore, was a coward.

But he had no chance to do so, and, looking at the ugly look on Sirius' face, Harry sometimes wondered if he would ever get the chance to mention it.

Instead, in a small voice, he told Ron and Hermione about his obligatory attendance at Snape's Occlumency lessons.

"Dumbledore wishes you would stop having those dreams about Voldemort," Hermione said immediately.

"Well, you're not sad about losing those dreams, are you?"

"Extra lessons with Snape?" said Ron, in a shocked tone. "I would rather have nightmares!"

The next day, they took the Knight Bus back to Hogwarts, once again being escorted by Tonks and Lupin. The next morning, when Harry, Ron, Vernon and Hermione came down, They were both having breakfast in the kitchen.

The adults were talking quietly as Harry opened the door; they all looked flustered and quickly fell back into silence.

After a quick breakfast, they all put on jackets and scarves to brave the cold, gray January morning.

This gave Harry an unpleasant feeling; he didn't want to say goodbye to Sirius. He had a bad feeling about it; he didn't know. The next time they saw each other, he felt it was his duty to stop Sirius from doing something stupid - Harry feared that Snape's condemnation of his cowardice had stung Sirius so deeply that it might have led him to plan foolishly. Do some traveling outside the old house.

In fact, this is not allowed. Sirius now receives no less attention than Fan Lin and the others. Anyone with a discerning eye knows that Sirius is definitely on Dumbledore's side, and naturally receives a lot of attention from the Ministry of Magic.

What's worse is that Sirius resigned from the Ministry of Magic. With Fudge's attitude, they will definitely keep a close eye on Sirius, which will make them feel that they have gained something.

However, before Harry could think of what to say, Sirius was at his side, waving to him.

"I want you to take this with you," Sirius said quietly, thrusting Harry a crudely wrapped bundle, probably a paperback. "What is that?" Harry asked.

"Let me know one of the ways in which Snape made life difficult for you, and no, don't open it here!" said Sirius, looking warily at Mrs. Weasley, who was trying to persuade the twins to wear hand-knitted gloves.

"I don't think Jasmine would approve - but I want you to use him when you need me, okay?"

"Okay," Harry said, placing the bundle in the inside pocket of his jacket, but knowing that whatever it was, he wasn't going to use it. That would not be him, Harry, the one to lure Sirius out of safety, no matter how despicably Snape might treat him during the upcoming Occlumency lessons.

"Then let's go," Sirius said, patting Harry on the shoulder and smiling horribly. Before Harry could say anything else, they walked to the second floor and stopped in front of the locked door. Surrounded by Weasleys.

"Goodbye, Harry, be careful," said Mrs. Weasley, hugging him.

"Goodbye, Harry, and keep an eye on those for me..." Mr. Weasley said kindly, waving his hand.

"Yes - yes," said Harry distractedly; that was his last chance to tell Sirius to be careful; he turned his head, looked into his godfather's face, opened his mouth and said, but before he Before he could do that, Sirius spoke to him briefly, hugged him with one arm, and said, "Look after yourself, Harry."

At that moment, Harry found himself fleeing out into the cold winter air, and walked down the steps with Tonks in annoyance.

"Help me take care of him, Fanlin." Sirius said earnestly.

"Yes." Fan Lin said, "But please pay more attention..."

Fan Lin looked at Hermione who had just walked out of the door, "I mean, let Kreacher stay in this house honestly. I think he should be invisible and hiding somewhere, but please don't hurt him yet."

"Kreacher?" Sirius said in surprise.

"That's right!" Fan Lin nodded, turned and left without saying anything more.

The door to No. 12 slammed shut behind them. They followed Lupine down the front steps. When he reached the sidewalk, he flipped through the records and looked around. On either side of its extension, Number Twelve was shrinking rapidly, disappearing from view. In the blink of an eye, it was gone.

"Returning to school is really a long-awaited thing. I hope Umbridge will change." Fan Lin said pretending to be relaxed, but looking at this posture, the day of leaving Hogwarts should not be too far away. .

"Come here, the sooner we get on the bus, the better," Tonks said, Fanlin saw her glance around the square, obviously a little nervous because of Mr. Weasley's matter.

Lupine held out his right arm. Bang... With a burst of strong exhaust fumes, the Triple Decorator bus appeared out of the thin air in front of it, barely avoiding hitting the nearest lamppost and jumping back down the road. A thin, pimpled, kettle-eared young man emerged from the haze of confusion, stepped onto the sidewalk, and said, "Welcome there—"

"Yes, yes, we know, thank you," Tonks said quickly. "

Get on, get on, get on—" She pushed Harry up the steps and past the conductor, who looked at him through glasses as he passed.

"Well - it's a lot -!"

"If you say his name, I'm going to curse you until you forget it," Tonks muttered menacingly, now Ginny and Hermione were separated.

"I always wish my holidays were longer," Ron said somewhat gloomily, joining Harry in the car and looking around.

It was late afternoon when Van Lin traveled for the last time in the Knight Bus, its three decks filled with brass bedsteads.

Now, in the early hours, a clutter of chairs lines up haphazardly next to the windows. When the bus stopped suddenly beside the old house, the chairs by the windows suddenly fell down. Some witches and wizards still stood complaining, and some had their shopping bags slid beside the cart: an unpleasant mixture of frog eggs, cockroaches, and custard cream was poured out and spread everywhere.

"Looks like we'll have to split up," Tonks said easily, looking around at the empty chair. "Fred, George and Ginny, if you take those seats at the back, Lupine can continue to stay with you."

She, Harry, Ron, Fanlin and Hermione walked up to the compartment above. There were two empty seats in the front of the bus and two in the back.

Stan, the conductor, eagerly followed Harry and Ron to the rear of the bus. Everyone turned their heads as Harry passed, and when he sat down he saw all the faces looking back to the front again.

After Fanlin and Hermione each handed Stan eleven copper nuts, the bus set off again.

As usual, the Knight Bus was shaking violently, which was definitely the driving style of an experienced driver.

It rumbled around the old house, left the pavement with a loud noise, and then, with another loud thud, surged forward; Ron's chair tipped over to the right, and Piglet fell into his lap. forward, struggled out of his cage, chirped and flew to the front of the car, landing on Hermione's shoulder.

Harry struggled not to slump over the candlestick and looked out the window: the car was speeding down a highway.

"Just out of Birmingham," Stan said cheerfully, answering Harry's unspoken question as Ron struggled to get up from the floor.

"You're doing well, Harry? I've been seeing your name in the papers all summer, and it's not good. I said to Ella, I said, when I met him, he didn't look like a fool, just It’s just to show off, isn’t it?”

He took their tickets and continued to stare at Harry, confused.

Apparently Stan doesn't care how crazy some people are, no matter how famous they are in the newspapers, and the Knight Bus shakes violently, passing a car.

Looking towards the front of the bus, Harry saw Fanlin hugging Hermione carefully, while the piglet was happily rocking on Hermione's shoulders.

BANG - The chair fell backwards again as the Knight Bus turned from Birmingham's motorway onto a quiet country lane with many dangerous inlets.

The hedgerows were set back on either side of the road. From here they came to a main street in the middle of a busy town, then onto a road surrounded by mountains, then onto a windswept road, each time with another huge thud.

"I've changed my mind," Ron muttered, rising from the floor for the sixth time. "I'll never fly on this thing again."

"Listen, after this it's Hogwarts stop," Stan said loudly, waving at them.

"A bossy woman in front got on the bus. He gave us a little tip to get in front of the queue. We let Mrs. Martha get off first, although-" A disgusting sound came from below, and then came flying There was a terrible noise, "—she didn't feel her best."

Minutes later, the Knight Bus screeched to a halt outside at a tavern, struggling to avoid a collision. They could hear Stan leading the unfortunate Lady Martha out of the bus, grumbling reassuringly about the passengers behind him on the second level.

The car started up again, accelerating until—bang—they were driving through snowy Hogsmeade. Harry caught a glimpse of the Hog's Head pub on the side of the street, a terrifying pig's head mark creaking in the cold wind. Little snowflakes fell on the front window of the car.

Finally they stopped in front of the gates of Hogwarts. (To be continued)