Beside him, Sirius exclaimed in shock, "She's an Animagus? Wait, no—how can an Animagus talk?"
As a seasoned illegal Animagus, Sirius had some authority on the subject. After transforming, an Animagus became just an ordinary animal—incapable of speech, unable to use magic, and if they stayed that way too long, even their instincts would begin to be affected.
"Lilith isn't an Animagus. Just think of her as a magical creature."
"But magical creatures can't—"
He immediately shut his mouth. There were so many types of magical creatures out there, he couldn't be sure there wasn't one that looked like a talking cat.
"You'll understand eventually. For now, let's go."
"Go where?" Sirius asked.
"Hogwarts. You should transform into a dog first."
"Alright."
His body quickly shifted, and in the blink of an eye, he had turned into a filthy, black dog.
Susie's eyes widened. If the dog hadn't been so dirty, she would've pounced right over to sniff him.
"…"
Under her stare, Sirius instinctively took a step back and tucked his tail between his legs. For some reason, he felt an overwhelming pressure radiating from this butterfly-sized dog—a dominating presence from a higher being, pressing down on a lower one.
It didn't feel like he was being watched by a dog…but by a beast.
Before he could make sense of it, someone grabbed the scruff of his neck and hoisted him up. The scene before him twisted for a moment, and when it cleared—
He found himself in a place both familiar and strange.
"Hogwarts…"
——
Not long after Edward and the others left Azkaban, a dozen enormous shadows came flying in from the north, cutting through the snow-laden skies at astonishing speed, heading straight for the island.
They were fire dragons!
Some were massive, others smaller, and they came in different breeds. But they all had one thing in common—each was covered in injuries, with iron shackles locked around their limbs.
On their backs rode a group of short-statured, hideous-faced goblins.
"Oi! That's Azkaban up ahead!"
"Make it quick and clean!"
With a loud crack, a one-eyed goblin snapped his whip. The fire dragons let out low, guttural roars as they dove straight toward the fortress.
"This time, we're taking back what's ours!"
"Take it back!!"
———
Sirius raised his head and gazed at the distant silhouette of Hogwarts Castle. He let out a deep bark from his throat. Then he turned his head and saw a strange, massive tree covered in snow.
He immediately recognised it—the Whomping Willow. Beneath it was the secret entrance to the Shrieking Shack. As memories surged forth, he was taken back to a time long gone.
He remembered the Marauders—what they shared here, what they did. Who would've thought that years later, the once-glorious group would be torn apart? One betrayed them, one was murdered, another lived as an outcast, and the last—himself—was left wandering with no place to call home.
"You'll stay here tonight. I'll arrange a meeting for you with Dumbledore and Harry as soon as I can."
Woof!
Sirius barked again and bolted forward, diving into the Shrieking Shack with practised ease.
Susie looked on curiously. "Audrey, when he turns into a dog, is he still considered human? I mean, I can clearly sense his human aura, but it feels like there's just a dog standing there."
"That's the strange thing about Animagi," Audrey replied. Then she raised an eyebrow. "Wait—Susie, don't tell me you're interested in him?"
A dog with human intelligence and a man who could turn into a dog himself—oh dear, Audrey didn't even want to imagine that.
Susie, however, looked genuinely confused. "Interested…in what?"
Lilith huffed. "Pfft. A mutt like that? Miss Lilith could take on a whole pack of them!"
"…"
Yeah…maybe now wasn't the time to talk about topics like that with these two.
Audrey turned to Edward. "Are you going to tell Professor Dumbledore about tonight?"
"Whether I do or not doesn't really matter," Edward said. "He'll easily guess it was us anyway. Still, giving him a heads-up might help him prepare for what's coming."
Audrey looked a little concerned. "Hmm…we kept it from him beforehand, and now we're only telling him after it's all done. Isn't that kind of… bad?"
"Oh, it's very bad," Edward agreed wholeheartedly. "If I were Dumbledore, I'd be furious. But some things, even if they're bad, just have to be done. We didn't have the strength before, but now that we do, we have to use our return wisely—to eliminate every last dangerous element we can."
"…How do you think the Ministry will handle the whole Azkaban situation?"
Edward thought for a moment. "There's no way they can cover it up—not that I'm going to let them. That beetle reporter of ours will be making sure the news spreads far and wide. The real question is whether this can be leveraged to further damage Fudge's reputation. That part…is up to Dumbledore."
Audrey pursed her lips and muttered, "Two major surprises in one night…I wonder if he'll be able to handle it."
"Two?" Edward blinked. "Oh—you mean Barty Crouch?"
"Exactly. He's probably already gone to confess to the professor by now."
"Uhh…"
——
"Oh, Merlin's beard…"
Inside the Headmaster's Office on the eighth floor of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore—dressed in an adorable pair of fuzzy pyjamas and a bobble nightcap—listened to Edward's "good news" and smacked a hand against his forehead.
"Truly…thank you so much, Edward."
The gratitude in his voice was anything but genuine.
"You've really gone out of your way to consider my well-being."
Edward coughed. "To be honest, Professor, giving Fudge a hard time was only a secondary goal tonight. The main objective was to deal with the Death Eaters in Azkaban."
"Voldemort is returning soon. He'll definitely try to rescue his old followers. Rather than wait for them to come after you, or me, or the students of Hogwarts…it's better to take care of them early—once and for all."
Dumbledore was silent for a moment, then sighed deeply. "You're right. Mercy to the enemy is cruelty to ourselves. Did you get Sirius out?"
"Yes, I've arranged for him to stay in the Shrieking Shack for now."
"Hmph. When I suggested reopening Sirius's case due to questionable evidence, Fudge promptly forbade me from even visiting Azkaban. I haven't even had a chance to bring up Peter Pettigrew."
Dumbledore's expression grew more frustrated. "Sometimes I wonder…following all the rules, playing along with Fudge's game of campaigning for Minister—was I just being a fool?"
Dumbledore's expression grew complicated. After a long hesitation, he finally opened his mouth.
"It's about one of Voldemort's Horcruxes…Hufflepuff's Cup…I'm sorry, I've disappointed you."
"What happened?"
"I tried to negotiate with the goblins at Gringotts to retrieve the cup hidden there, but I was met with flat rejection…No—actually, I was outright thrown out of Gringotts."
Edward was rendered speechless. You, the Great White Lord of the wizarding world, actually got bullied by a bunch of goblins?!
But after thinking it over, he responded seriously, "That's not true. Just as you said last time—if no one abides by the rules and laws, the wizarding world would fall into chaos. That's not the future you want to see. People like me…one is more than enough."
"…"
"Do you need me to go to Gringotts for the cup?"
Dumbledore nodded, then shook his head.
"This time, you'll come with me. I'll make one final attempt to negotiate. If that fails…we'll take action together."
Edward was stunned. "Take action…together?"
The old man stroked his beard and said with a rare trace of irritation, "I've endured those goblins long enough!"
"…"
Merlin's beard! Dumbledore never even looked like this when dealing with Voldemort. Those goblins must've really crossed the line.
"Alright then. I'll wait for your message."
Just then, something else seemed to occur to Dumbledore.
"By the way, before Snape was taken away this morning, he told me specifically that last night's Dark Mark incident might have something to do with Malfoy—he did go missing for a short while."
"You used Legilimency to verify it?"
"I did."
"Malfoy again? Was he Imperiused again?"
Edward couldn't help but look exasperated.
"Professor, is the security at Hogwarts really that bad?"
A flicker of guilt appeared on Dumbledore's face.
Of course, Edward understood. It's easy to be a thief every day, but impossible to guard against one every day. Wizards weren't like cultivators who possessed spiritual senses—able to detect even a mouse sneaking into their territory.
Unless Dumbledore deliberately focused all his attention on someone, he couldn't use the castle's enchantments to keep constant tabs on their location and condition. And if he did that, he might as well change careers and become Hogwarts' magical surveillance guard.
"In the coming days, I'll use Divination to screen everyone as quickly as possible. As long as the culprit is still inside Hogwarts, they won't escape."
"Thank you."
"What's the situation with Professor Snape now?"
Dumbledore's expression turned grim.
"He's still being interrogated. Fudge has repeatedly tried to pressure him into confessing and even attempted to shift the blame onto me. Thankfully, he still doesn't have absolute power in the Ministry. As long as Severus doesn't admit anything, there's nothing Fudge can do."
"He won't try any…extreme methods, will he? Forcing a confession under duress?"
Dumbledore's gaze turned sharp at once.
"I won't give him the chance."
As he spoke, he tapped his chest with his finger. In an instant, his adorable nightgown transformed into his usual austere wizard's robe. He raised his hand toward Fawkes the phoenix, who let out a low cry and landed gently on his wrist.
"I'm going to pay a visit to my old friends on the Wizengamot. They've probably long gone to bed, but I'm sure they'll welcome my visit."
"Good luck, Professor."
The next second, Fawkes carried Dumbledore away in a flash of fire.
"Yaaawn~"
Edward stretched and yawned.
"Finally, I can go back to sleep. Tomorrow's bound to be a beautiful day."
———
The next morning, Edward was shaken awake by Cedric.
Arms folded, Cedric looked at him in disbelief.
"You—you slept in? What on earth did you do last night? I waited until I passed out, and you still weren't back!"
Edward sat up groggily, rubbing his eyes and muttering, "What else could I be doing? Practising magic, of course."
"With Audrey?"
"Uh-huh."
"You spent half the night alone with such a gorgeous girl…and all you did was practice magic?"
"Uh-huh."
Cedric rolled his eyes.
"What kind of idiot actually does that?"
"…"
Well…I didn't practice magic with Audrey all night—but I did spend the whole night studying Ancient Feysac with her!
Bloody hell, I would've rather practised magic!
"You don't get it. Once you start chasing after Cho, you'll understand."
Cedric immediately looked sceptical.
"Yeah right. Like I'd fall for that."
Edward jumped out of bed and looked around.
"Huh? Where's Lilith?"
"When I woke up, I saw her run off to play." Cedric pushed Edward toward the washroom, hands firmly on his back. "Go wash up. If we're late, the good food'll be gone."
"Aye aye, sir."
——
In reality, Hogwarts meals were pretty much unlimited. As long as you didn't waste food, you could eat as much as you wanted. The house-elves in the kitchens were more than happy to work around the clock.
When the two arrived at the Great Hall, the students were enjoying their meals while discussing the latest drama—Snape and Karkaroff being taken to the Ministry, and the return of that wretched pink toad, Umbridge.
After a couple of quiet days, the hype around "celebrity Edward" had finally died down. Now only a few students occasionally cast curious glances his way. Compared to the kind of attention Harry used to get, this was nothing—much to Edward's relief.
"No news from Azkaban yet?"
A matter this big—Edward didn't believe for a second that the Ministry could suppress it. Reporters, like a swarm of flies, would never let a story this juicy slip through the cracks.
Just as Edward lifted a glass of milk to his lips, a loud flurry of flapping wings erupted from outside.
A whole wave of owls flew in, dropping letters, packages, and newspapers to each person with impeccable aim.
"Pleh, pleh, pleh—"
Ron spat out the feather that had floated into his mouth, grumbling, "Why do these damn birds always deliver mail during mealtime?"
Hermione immediately explained, "Because it's the only time everyone is gathered in one place. Otherwise, they'd have to search every single room individually."
"But…ugh, swallowing feathers is bad enough—what if one of those owls has diarrhoea mid-flight?!"
Hermione glared at him fiercely.
"Shut up, Ron!"
THUD!
Just then, a long, heavy package dropped into Harry's lap, startling him.
"Huh? Someone actually sent me a parcel?"
Ron grabbed another chicken leg and chuckled, "What's weird about that? You've got family, don't you?"
"...Oh no. If it is from them, I don't even want to imagine what's inside…" Harry adjusted his glasses nervously.
"What if they sent me the broom I used to clean their house?"
"Just open it and see."
Ron began tearing open the packaging. Soon, a broom appeared before them.
Harry stared, stunned.
"They really did send me a broom?"
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.