Chapter 236. Snape's Suspicion
At midnight, Sirius Black crossed paths with the beech tree.
Inside the Great Hall of Hogwarts Castle, the atmosphere was tense and hushed.
Hundreds of students were crammed into sleeping bags, yet few truly slept.
Whispers surged like hidden currents through every corner.
Of course, that was only normal—you couldn't expect a bunch of teenagers to lie down quietly and sleep, especially under circumstances like these.
And most of them had only one topic of conversation: how Sirius Black had managed to get into Hogwarts.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were huddled together as well, whispering about how he had slipped past the Dementors' cordon.
"He definitely knows the Patronus Charm," Harry murmured. "Only the Patronus Charm can drive off Dementors."
Hermione clearly disagreed. "You're oversimplifying it. If he'd run into Dementors, they would certainly have notified the Ministry of Magic. And I read in a book that Dark wizards can't use the Patronus Charm."
"What do you think, Ron?" Harry looked to the other side.
…Right. Ron had fallen asleep.
Meanwhile, out in the dim corridor beyond the Great Hall—
Adrian Wesson was facing down Severus Snape.
Or rather, Snape had suddenly appeared and blocked his way.
"You're not with that monster any longer?" Snape asked, expressionless.
Monster?
Adrian blinked, but recovered at once; he must mean Lupin.
"We split into two groups," he answered succinctly. "Lupin's responsible for the upper floors."
"Oh, here's a word of warning." Snape's cold voice rang in the shadowed corridor. "For Black to break into Hogwarts so easily, he must have help from someone on the inside."
Adrian raised an eyebrow. "You might as well be clearer than that, Professor Snape."
Snape gave a derisive snort. "You know perfectly well what I mean. That's all I'll say. Keep a close eye on that monster. I'll go and alert Dumbledore."
With that, he turned on his heel and disappeared around the corner.
Adrian fell into thought. At the moment, Snape likely took Lupin for Sirius Black's accomplice.
He might think it was Black helping Lupin—helping Black—into the Hogwarts castle.
How to put it… from his standpoint, that truly was a reasonable guess.
He probably believed Black and Lupin were birds of a feather.
But Adrian, who knew the truth, would not think so.
Toward dawn, the exhausted students finally drifted off one after another, and the professors' night-time search came to an end.
Obviously, they'd found nothing at all.
By the doors, Adrian looked over the countless sleeping bags strewn across the hall and yawned.
"Professors need rest as well," he suggested to Dumbledore at his side. "At least a few hours of sleep."
"Tomorrow's classes are cancelled," Dumbledore said with a mild smile. "You'll have ample time to rest."
Just then, a flash of red alighted on Dumbledore's shoulder.
It was Fawkes!
At the moment, Fawkes was only hatchling-sized, his whole body covered in golden-red down; he looked as though he had just undergone rebirth.
He nuzzled Dumbledore's cheek affectionately, then delivered a letter into Dumbledore's hand.
Adrian wasn't sure if this counted as child labour.
All right, that wasn't the point.
The point was: at such a late hour, who would be sending Dumbledore a letter?
"Who's it from? The Ministry of Magic?" Adrian asked curiously.
Dumbledore opened the letter and glanced over it; the warmth left his face. "You've guessed right, Adrian."
Seeing Dumbledore's expression, Adrian knew it couldn't be good news.
"I must go to the Dementors at once," Dumbledore said calmly.
"Let me guess," Adrian stroked his chin. "The Ministry is demanding that the Dementors be allowed into the castle to conduct a search."
"They will not get in," Dumbledore said at once, shaking his head, his tone uncharacteristically firm. "The students are still here. I will not permit it."
Adrian spread his hands. "I'm afraid Fudge won't heed your advice now."
Dumbledore gently stroked Fawkes on his shoulder, and the phoenix let out a soft cry.
"Do me a favour, Adrian," he said. "I know you can handle those Dementors. If they try to harm the students, I hope you won't hold back."
"Of course," Adrian said with a nod.
No holding back…?
In truth, he also wanted to see how the Dementors would react when confronted with his Tree of Wisdom Patronus at full strength.
Having given Adrian his instructions, Dumbledore left the Great Hall at once.
He was presumably off to deal with those detestable Dementors.
The next day, discussion about Black continued to ferment.
Although classes were suspended for a day, the professors didn't restrict the students' movements.
Even so, most students chose to move about in groups, to make themselves feel safer.
Even if you died, at least you'd have company… er… all right, that wasn't exactly auspicious.
In short, the students were still on edge.
And as for who was most affected among the student body, it was Harry, without a doubt.
Because whether professors or students, most people believed Harry was Black's target.
Harry, however, had his own judgement.
Sirius Black had once been a Hogwarts student himself; he would certainly know that the students would be gathered in the Great Hall for the Hallowe'en feast that night.
If he truly meant to kill Harry, why choose the moment when it would be the hardest to succeed?
Therefore, Black's target was very likely not him.
No one listened to his explanation, though.
Over the next few days, whenever he walked down a corridor, there was always a professor or a student following after him.
Even during Quidditch practice, Madam Hooch would be there watching from the side.
They didn't say it outright, but Harry knew they were protecting his safety.
In addition, word that Harry had a Firebolt spread inadvertently—but most people took it as just a rumour.
After all, what student could afford a Firebolt?
One afternoon, Adrian and Hagrid walked side by side on the path towards the Forbidden Forest, while Rai circled overhead, keeping watch.
"Rai seems to have spotted a figure resembling Black in the Forest," Adrian said to Hagrid as they went. "This morning."
"I don't doubt it," Hagrid sighed. "We all know the place Black's most likely to hole up is the Forest. But you know, finding one person in there isn't easy. We've swept through it loads of times already, haven't we?"
"Of course I know, Hagrid," Adrian said with a smile. "That's why Rai will be watching from the sky. And, even better, we'll have a helper…"
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