"Mad-Eye Moody, I think we need to have a good talk now." Lupin's hoarse voice came from the back seat.
A dilapidated old car sped along the wide road, leaving a trail of dust and the roar of the engine. The driver was Mad-Eye Moody, using his prosthetic leg to work the clutch.
Lupin and Sirius were now bound in the back seat, their hands tightly tied and their feet fastened to the underside of the front seats.
"Shut up," Moody said, turning half his head to scold the newly awakened Lupin. His blue magical eye continued to watch the road ahead, monitoring the traffic.
"It's no use, Remus," Black coughed slightly, also now awake.
"They're all Fudge's dogs in the Ministry of Magic. Fudge won't believe us, he can't, and he wouldn't dare." Sirius spat out the window, his deeply set eyes staring at Moody in front.
"Hahahaha." Moody laughed mockingly upon hearing this, then turned his head completely to focus on driving.
"You don't seem to fully understand your current situation." Moody suddenly turned the steering wheel, making a right turn to avoid a roaring truck.
"You are suspects now, and you have no right to yell at me," Moody said, opening the car window on his left, letting in a gust of fierce wind.
"I just want to explain everything I know clearly. Even if you work for the Ministry of Magic, I still believe in your inner convictions, that you are loyal not just to the Ministry, but to the justice in your heart," Lupin said weakly.
"Flattery won't work on me. Evil will be judged, and the justice in my heart is to bring criminals to justice." Moody's gruff voice echoed again in the cramped car.
"Muggle transportation is really exciting." Lupin saw in the rearview mirror that Moody was grinning, revealing his yellow teeth, and laughing freely.
The strong wind blew his gray-white hair up.
"Heh." Black chuckled silently, thinking it wasn't shameful to be caught by this man.
"It's still a pity that I didn't get to talk to James's son." Black's heart was unusually calm at this moment, only slightly regretful.
"One-Eye, the Dementors aren't in Azkaban anymore, so where are you taking us? Also, until just now, the guy next to me was under my Imperius Curse. None of what happened just now was his fault," Sirius said, half jokingly and half contemptuously.
His bound feet wriggled, kicking at Moody, who was driving in the front seat.
If Lupin's hands were free, one would definitely be holding his forehead to express his inner collapse, and the other would be covering Sirius's mouth.
"You've really gone daft after being in there for twelve years." Lupin said wearily, rolling his eyes to show his attitude towards Sirius's childish behavior. Only when facing old friends could he act so childishly.
Calling him by his nickname in front of others and telling such an obvious lie, Lupin guessed that Sirius had forgotten basic conversational etiquette after being in Azkaban for so many years.
Well, he was always like this: arrogant and conceited.
But why did he feel so happy now? A faint smile appeared on Lupin's lips again.
Maybe being with an old friend just made him feel inexplicably at ease.
"I really didn't want to accept this assignment." Moody thought to himself, looking at them through the rearview mirror.
"Hold on tight," Moody reminded them, "Even criminals have rights. I still have to deliver you safely to where you need to go." Then he slammed his right foot on the accelerator, the roar of the engine grew louder, and the whole car began to shake violently, as if the parts inside would fall apart at any moment. Then the strong thrust took effect, and Lupin even suspected that the car would break down at any moment, because they were shaking so badly.
"Damn it, why are there so many Muggle cars?" Moody slapped the steering wheel hard, cursing and urging the car in front to move faster.
They had already reached the center of London, and the intersection was currently at a red light.
"This isn't the way to Azkaban, is it? I remember the last time I went, I took a boat." Sirius Black looked at the bustling city through the transparent window, with people coming and going and heavy traffic.
"You talk too much," Moody said.
After that, the car fell into complete silence, with only the sound of rattling parts.
Finally, the old car stopped on a street. The walls on both sides were covered in messy graffiti, and the surrounding buildings were dilapidated. There was also a deserted bar with almost no customers willing to drink in such a dirty environment.
"Don't think about pulling any tricks," Moody warned, then opened the car door and walked towards a dilapidated red telephone booth.
Moody dialed the number 62442 (the letters on the telephone dial spell out 'magic') in the telephone booth, and then a witch's voice came from the air. After Moody explained his intentions, the telephone spat out a few silver cards.
"Is this old guy trying to buy us a drink?" Black still said in an indifferent tone. He only saw Moody walking towards the pub and didn't see his later actions.
"We should think about how to appeal our case. Professor Dumbledore will help us," Lupin remained calm.
"Get out of the car, we're here." Moody came back quickly, interrupting their conversation. With a "click," he opened the back door and let the two out.
Then the three of them plunged into the telephone booth, which began to descend like an elevator. After about a minute, they arrived at the lobby.
"The Ministry of Magic?" Lupin said questioningly, looking around the hall.
It was a long, magnificent hall, with dark wooden floors that were polished to a shine. The peacock blue ceiling was inlaid with glittering gold symbols that moved and changed constantly, like a giant high-altitude bulletin board.
"Since when can they detain prisoners here? Or is Azkaban already full?" Black still wore an indifferent expression, expressing his opinion.
People around them politely nodded to Moody when they saw him, then quickly walked away.
Respected and feared at the same time.
That was Moody's position in the Ministry of Magic, even though he had been retired for many years.
Well, mainly because his eye was too scary.
Moody led the two forward quickly. Because their feet were bound, Lupin and Sirius could only hop and skip forward, which looked very comical.
They then walked into an elevator, and after a while, walked out again. Two heavy oak doors stood directly in front of them. Moody pointed his wand at the door and muttered something, and the door opened naturally.
What came into view was a dilapidated, dimly lit corridor.
"Go in." Moody walked to a silver-white door with a sign that read: Misuse of Magic Office. Without knocking, he pushed the door open, making a creaking sound.
"Your task is here," Moody said.
A tall, burly man was hunched over at his desk. Those who didn't know him would think he was slacking off, but he was actually reviewing files. He only looked up when he heard Moody's voice, pushing up his thick glasses.
"Fill out the forms." The man found two blank forms from a large pile of documents overflowing from under his feet and handed them over.
"Oh, no, I remember you. Dumbledore brought you here last time." The man looked at Lupin and shook his head, then took back one of the forms.
"Release the restraints." Moody's wand touched the ropes binding the two slightly, and the ropes seemed to shrink back as if they were alive.
"I want to see what you're going to do." Sirius Black was fearless, found a seat and sat down, and picked up a quill familiarly to start writing on the form.
"This is yours." The man found another form and handed it to Lupin.
After about two minutes, Lupin and Sirius finished filling out their forms and handed them back to the man in charge. The man stamped them and handed them to Moody.
Moody looked at the two forms repeatedly with his magical eye and normal eye, and then said—
"Very well, you are free."
Then Moody prepared to push the door and leave, but stopped when his prosthetic leg had already stepped out.
"I'll say one more thing, I'm not a dog of the Ministry of Magic. I haven't liked that Fudge kid for a long time." Moody's hoarse voice rang out.
Then the sound of a cane hitting the ground echoed in the quiet corridor, and finally his limping figure disappeared at the end of the corridor.
Leaving Lupin and Black looking at each other.
Sirius Black seemed to realize something and quickly picked up the form again, only to see that the top of the form was written in large, bold letters: "Animagus Registration Form"
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