Hogwarts Homecoming

Sirius arranged for them to meet at the Three Broomsticks pub at noon on Saturday. For most of the morning, Harry stayed bored in the common room writing his Potions paper.

Hermione stayed in the dormitory and did not go out. Ever since Hermione discovered the dangers of some Triwizard Tournament events under Krum's reminder, she went completely crazy. She found a weight that could be used from the library. Hagrid was overwhelmed with books and began to look up the habits of all dangerous creatures and the solutions to solve them. She memorized those books day and night. If anyone tried to interfere with her, she would immediately lose her temper.

Ron borrowed the Firebolt from him early in the morning and went to the field with Dean and Seamus to let themselves go. When Harry reminded him that they would go to Hogsmeade through the secret passage later, Ron hesitated. After a moment, he rejected the offer again.

Meeting Sirius was the most anticipated thing for Harry after receiving the reply, and Ron's absence made Harry, who had been looking forward to it for so long, feel unhappy. Even without Hermione's guidance, Harry was gradually getting a taste of such a big change in his close friend who had been with him for several years.

He realized that Ron might not be just worried about her as Hermione said, but that he had a deeper reason. As for what it was, he hadn't figured it out yet.

"Sorry, am I late?"

There were no girls that Harry knew in the common room, so he couldn't find anyone to go to the girls' dormitory to remind Hermione to pay attention to the time, so he could only wait anxiously alone.

When it was only ten minutes before eleven o'clock, Hermione rushed out of the stairs of the girls' dormitory with her hair disheveled. When she approached, Harry immediately asked in surprise,

"What's going on, Hermione, what happened to your face!" Harry pointed to the scratches on both sides of Hermione's cheeks. "Did you throw the mouse that Crookshanks caught out of the window again?"

"Talking as we go, Harry!"

Hermione said in a rough dress.

They hurriedly left Gryffindor Tower, and when they were in a deserted corner, Harry pulled out his Invisibility Cloak from his bag and put it on himself and Hermione.

Harry had used the Invisibility Cloak countless times since he got it, but wearing it in the castle during the day was an unprecedented experience. In order to avoid the crowds of people, which were many times more than at night, Harry and Hermione had to be extra careful. Otherwise, when they returned from Hogsmeade, rumors of hauntings in the castle would spread all over the sky.

They came to the Gunhilda Corridor on the third floor of the castle. It was in a remote place and there were not many people in sight. Harry took off the invisibility cloak and Hermione ran all the way to the sculpture of the hunchbacked one-eyed witch at the end. They waited until the hunchback opened. Finally, both Harry and Hermione climbed up quickly.

"I'm practicing how to deal with dementors in the dormitory!"

Harry and Hermione ran wildly through the secret passage with glowing wands, and Hermione said in a tone of almost collapse,

"I can't use the Patronus Charm. No matter how much I recite the spell, there is no reaction at all. This has never happened before. How did you do it, Harry? How did Professor Lupine teach you? ?”

"There's a trick!"

It is indeed a sense of accomplishment to master a magic that Hermione cannot master, Harry said proudly,

"You have to find a Boggart to help you practice. Being there is very helpful for learning this magic!"

"Harry--"

Hermione said helplessly,

"I am not you. Boggarts will not turn into dementors when they face me. Moreover, Boggarts are not products on the shelves of Bee Duke Candy Store. You can buy them for Galleons."

"Oh, I forgot-"

Harry said a little embarrassed,

"Then you have to concentrate on recalling those happy memories. The stronger those memories, the higher the chance of successful spell casting."

"Yeah -" Hermione's tone became broken again, "You must have noticed that when I close my eyes now, all I see are happy memories, not dementors, werewolves, vampires or anything like that."

Well, Harry had nothing to say.

Even with the help of the secret passage, the distance between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade is not short. In Harry's memory, when they went to Hogsmeade through the secret passage last school year, they always had to go through a long journey. It was a dark journey, but now, as they ran all the way, the physical exertion was not that exaggerated. Now, he felt more and more that a good body was also a very valuable convenience for a wizard.

Before entering the secret passage, the sun hiding in the thin clouds was still shining faint sunlight on the earth, but when Harry and Hermione emerged from the warehouse of Bee Duke Candy Shop, they were surprised to find that the sky had become dark and it was raining outside. The misty rain fell.

"Come on, Harry, we can't let those girls see them, they're from Beauxbatons-"

When Hogwarts is not open, only some local villager children in Hogsmeade visit the Bee Duke Candy Shop, but Hermione discovered a few tall young girls behind several shelves. The candies on the shelves showed much higher spirits than when they were looking at Hogwarts.

"How did they get out?"

Harry ducked and followed Hermione as he quickly escaped from the candy store. However, they also found some young men and women on the street whose style was obviously different from that of the local villagers.

"They are guests, aren't they?"

Hermione didn't find it strange at all;

"There is always a bit of privilege. Harry, take out the invisibility cloak and put it on. I'm afraid there are people from them in the Three Broomsticks pub. I discovered Durmstrang's students."

Hermione's prediction was correct. When they ran to the Three Broomsticks Bar, they found that there was also a group of Durmstrang students here, and there were quite a few of them. Compared to candy, the Durmstrang people Apparently more interested in alcohol, they gathered around the bar and asked Mrs. Rosmerta to bring out the strongest liquor in the store, making Mrs. Rosmerta roll her eyes.

Harry glanced at them, but didn't see Krum. He didn't know if it was because he didn't want to cause a commotion so he didn't go out.

Under the invisibility cloak, Harry and Hermione looked around the store several times before they noticed Sirius sitting on the seat. He was obviously sitting there, but surprisingly he was inconspicuous at all. He was holding a glass of beer and looked at the Durmstrang students with unfriendly eyes.

"Sirius--"

The moment Harry saw his godfather, the joy in Harry's heart almost burst through his chest. He subconsciously wanted to lift off the invisibility cloak and go up to say hello, but Hermione hurriedly stopped him.

"We can't show up, Harry -" Hermione said in a panic, "we sneaked out!"

Sirius was more vigilant than he thought. He immediately noticed that two invisible people were approaching him, and his eyebrows instantly became sharp. However, just two seconds later, he became smiling.

"Ah, Harry and Hermione, you brought out James' invisibility cloak. What a wise choice you made!"

"How did you know it was us, Sirius?"

Sirius pulled two stools and placed them close to him. His eyes accurately found the positions of Harry and Hermione. Hermione asked in surprise while being pulled by Harry to sit down.

"You still have a lot to learn!"

Sirius smiled and pointed at the floor. Harry and Hermione turned around and saw two series of footprints at the door leading to where they were. Judging from the footprints, they were obviously a boy and a girl.

"Oh, that's clever -" Hermione said appreciatively.

"How are you doing, Sirius!"

Harry asked happily, leaning against the edge of the table. Sirius looked like he did when he went to pick him up from the Dursleys during the summer vacation. He was weathered and seemed to have lost a little weight, but he seemed to be in good spirits.

Sirius couldn't see Harry's expression, but from Harry's tone of voice, he probably knew that Harry must be grinning at him now. He couldn't be too explicit, lest bystanders think he was a lunatic.

"There's no other word for it besides enrichment, Harry -"

Sirius held up the wine glass to cover his face and smiled quietly,

"And you, Harry, are things going well?"

"Everything went well," Harry whispered.

It has been two months since school started. So far, he has not encountered any big trouble. This seems to be the first time in several years.

"So, Hermione—"

Sirius stared at the beer swirling in the glass, pretending to think.

"I'm afraid your recent situation is not so pleasant, right?"