Chapter 209. The Escape of Black
However, Petunia's next move did not go Harry's way.
She snatched the parchment, narrowed her eyes, and mouthed the words silently, reading the contents word by word.
Harry's heart sank at once—she was reading it that carefully.
"Hogsmeade… weekend visit permission…"
Petunia's voice suddenly went shrill. "Don't think you can pull the wool over my eyes!"
At that moment, Vernon's thick, stubby hand took the consent form from Petunia.
He glanced over it and then gave Harry a cold, triumphant smile. "Ha! You little wretch, you want to go to this place called Hogsmeade, do you? Well, you won't get the chance!"
"Oh, really?"
Forcing himself to stay calm, Harry said expressionlessly, "Professor Wesson will be more than happy to sort this out for me."
That sentence was like a silent spell: the Dursleys were instantly struck with fright. Vernon's smirk froze on his face, his fleshy chin trembling slightly, while Petunia turned deathly pale in a flash.
Harry was a bit taken aback by this.
They looked genuinely afraid of his teacher.
"Y-you cut that out!" Vernon barked, trying to keep up a front, though his voice clearly lacked conviction. "If that freak dares come to my house ag—"
"If you sign it, I won't have to trouble him," Harry said, utterly unconcerned, and handed over the quill he had prepared long ago.
Vernon's face grew even uglier, a fine sheen of sweat breaking out on his forehead.
In the end, he scrawled his name on the parchment viciously—but added a condition:
Harry had to admit he was attending St Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys.
That made Harry breathe easier.
In truth, if Vernon had refused to sign in the end, Harry would still have been unwilling to trouble Wesson.
That would cause all sorts of unnecessary bother.
"Now take your things and get out."
Having signed, Vernon shoved the quill and the consent form into Harry's hands in one go, glaring in fury.
Harry put them away and shrugged.
At least he had got what he wanted.
In the afternoon, carrying a small black case, Harry walked the road to Wesson's shop and sighed helplessly.
He had actually planned to stay home today and do his summer homework.
But plans change.
At noon, Vernon's sister, Marge, had come to the Dursleys' to visit.
Aunt Marge was every bit as odious as the rest of the Dursley family.
When he was little, Marge had often bullied him, including but not limited to: thrashing Harry's shins with a cane, giving him dog biscuits, and setting the dogs on him to chase him up a tree…
Worse still, Marge was going to stay at the Dursleys' house for a whole week.
So Harry had to hurriedly flee the Dursleys' home.
He really did not want to have any conversation with that Aunt Marge.
Thinking of this, Harry glanced at the small black case in his hand, and his mood improved a little.
Inside was the Broomstick Servicing Kit Hermione had given him.
He very much wanted to use it on his Nimbus 2000, but unfortunately, thanks to the Dursleys' opposition, he had deposited everything to do with magic at Wesson's—his broomstick included.
With a touch of anticipation, Harry quickened his pace.
Unexpectedly, he arrived at the shop door alongside someone else.
"Mr Lupin."
Harry stared in surprise at the man before him.
He remembered Lupin had already resigned.
"Oh, Harry," Lupin replied simply. "Good afternoon."
With that, he pushed the door open first.
Harry hurried in after him, noticing that Lupin's expression seemed rather grave.
Had something bad happened?
Inside the shop, Wesson was lounging lazily on the sofa with today's Daily Prophet in hand.
Seeing the two come in, he set the paper down and smiled. "Hello, Lupin—oh, and Harry. What brings you here?"
Lupin skipped the pleasantries and asked directly, "Have you seen today's Daily Prophet?"
"Ah, of course."
Wesson nodded.
The paper was still in his hand.
Today, Sirius Black had at last escaped from Azkaban.
The Daily Prophet had given the story a huge spread; Black's photograph alone took up nearly half the page. In it, Black looked haggard and vacant-eyed, his black, tangled hair nearly covering half his face.
To be honest, Wesson rather admired him.
Crossing a vast stretch of sea without a wand—this was not something that could be done on willpower alone. "Sirius Black has escaped," Lupin sighed. "You know what that implies, Wesson."
"So what?" Wesson shrugged, rose from the sofa, and said carelessly, "It's nothing to do with me—"
"Er… who is this 'Black' you're talking about?" Harry, who had been listening in silence, suddenly cut in. "I saw on the Muggle telly this morning there was a criminal with the same name who'd broken out of prison."
"Likely the same person—an Azkaban convict," Wesson explained with a nod. "The Ministry of Magic and the Muggle government coordinate; they're worried Black may be hiding in the Muggle world, so both sides have issued a wanted notice."
Harry took the newspaper from Wesson. Sure enough, the moving picture looked very much like the face he'd seen on the television.
He was a little shocked.
He had imagined the wizarding world and the Muggle world were separate.
In fact, Harry did not know that quite a few people in the Muggle world were aware of wizards' existence—especially those with wealth and status.
"I don't think this has nothing to do with you, Wesson," Lupin said, shaking his head. "Black is a Death Eater…"
"Death Eater!" Harry exclaimed.
He of course knew that Death Eaters were what people called You-Know-Who's followers.
Ignoring him, Lupin kept his eyes on Wesson. "You must have looked into what Black did. He was sent to Azkaban—who do you think he hates most now?"
"You're afraid he's broken out specifically for Harry?"
"Yes," Lupin nodded, warning, "Be careful, Wesson."
"You don't need to worry about that, Lupin," Wesson said with a smile and a shake of the head. "Do you really think, under my protection, Black could threaten Harry? Besides, things may not be what you think…"
"Wait! Wait!" Harry, still at sea, felt his head buzz. "That bloke called Black broke out for me?"
Wesson reached out and ruffled Harry's hair. "No need to be afraid—he can't threaten you."
Seeing the two of them tacitly confirm it, Harry felt as though he were in a dream.
His life really was perilous and exciting.
He'd only just killed a giant snake last term, and now a fugitive had broken out of prison to come after him.
Lupin left soon after—he had come only to tell Wesson the news.
Naturally, Wesson, who knew the truth, was not flustered in the least.
All they had to do now was wait for Black to show himself and then clear things up.
Harry, however, did not see it that way.
Because of this, he was distracted the whole afternoon; his head was full of Black's sinister face from the paper.
On the way home at dusk, his nerves were strung tight, and he kept feeling that somewhere in the dark, that wild-haired escapee was watching him.
Like this story Leave a review ; it would really help me out a lot.
Want to Read Ahead in Advance?
Join my Patreon!
+75 Chapters
Support me in
Patreon.com/BestElysium