Hermione returned only after Harry and Ron finished their first game of Gobstones.
She was not carrying any owls, but rather holding a large ginger cat.
"Where is your owl?" Harry asked in surprise, eyeing the cat, which looked rather grumpy, with suspicion.
The cat had a sombre face and a strange, squashed-looking face, as if it had once run headfirst into a brick wall. It had been purring in Hermione's arms, but suddenly woke up and gave Harry a sharp look.
"I bought this cat. Look how beautiful it is!" Hermione said, stroking its soft, fluffy fur with delight. "I am going to name it Crookshanks."
Harry and Ron exchanged a glance and wisely decided not to continue the discussion with Hermione about what "good-looking" meant.
They hurriedly gathered up the Gobstones and walked back to the Leaky Cauldron along the cobblestone path.
As they passed by Flourish and Blotts, they saw a large iron cage behind the glass, with about a hundred copies of The Monster Book of Monsters tangled together, seemingly fighting fiercely. Behind the cage was a sweating clerk, preparing to put on a pair of thick gloves to retrieve books for several impatient customers behind her.
"That book was a disaster. I do not know what kind of professor would choose that book." Ron was speechless. You could hear the shop assistant yelling as she was bitten by a book through the window.
"Do you know how to make that book quiet?" Hermione asked, annoyed. Her book was bound tightly in a separate metal box and always made a banging noise.
"Oh, I know. Sirius told me to run my fingers along the spine of the book. It actually works." Harry grinned.
"Are you sure?" Hermione asked.
"Of course," Harry said confidently.
"Wait for me a moment," Hermione said.
She ran straight to Flourish and Blotts and said something to the clerk whose arm was being bitten by a book. The clerk was overjoyed and stroked the spine of the book, which immediately softened.
Through the shop window, Harry saw the clerk thank Hermione gratefully, and Hermione waved to the sweaty clerk before quickly leaving the bookshop and returning to them.
"Tsk, is she planning to meddle in everything?" Ron said to Harry.
Hermione glared at him, then followed the crowd, passing the Firebolt display again. Harry and Ron followed behind her, glancing at the display a few times before stopping in their tracks.
"Harry, do you like this?" Sirius Black's voice suddenly came from behind them.
"Sirius!" Harry heard the voice, turned around to greet his godfather, and asked shyly, "How did you know I wanted it?"
The Black family members were all very tall, standing out prominently in the crowd. As he spoke, he cautiously glanced around the bustling crowd, as if afraid of encountering any bad people.
He had a somewhat arrogant expression, but his grey eyes were gentle as he looked at Harry. "I gave you your first flying broomstick when you were a child, so of course I know."
"What? I rode a flying broomstick when I was a kid?" Harry asked in surprise. "I had no idea—"
"Of course. Your mother wrote to me back then, saying you really liked that broom. I wish I had had a chance to watch you compete. You know, the way you looked at the flying broom was exactly the same as your father's." Sirius smiled slightly.
For a moment, it seemed as if he were looking at his best friend through Harry.
At this moment, Ron and Hermione turned around and looked at Sirius with curiosity. He did not lose focus for long, and keenly sensed their gaze. He smiled kindly at them and said, "Oh, this must be Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, is that right? Mrs Weasley sent me to find you, to come back to the Leaky Cauldron for dinner."
So they joined the Weasleys, had a lively meal, and finally settled comfortably into a few armchairs in a corner of the Leaky Cauldron.
During their conversation, Hermione mentioned what she had seen at the pet shop.
"When I walked into the pet shop, there was an Auror inspecting the cage of mice to make sure they all still had their toes attached… Is that not ridiculous?" Hermione asked, her face showing disbelief.
"They probably reckon Peter Pettigrew is up to his old tricks again, pretending to be a pet mouse or something. Speaking of which, there are so many Aurors in Diagon Alley today. I saw several of my dad's colleagues from the Ministry of Magic… I thought they were all going to be sent out to catch Peter Pettigrew," Ron said.
"If I am not mistaken, in a way, it is because of me," Harry calmly confided to his companions. "Draco told me a long time ago. Peter Pettigrew might be looking for one of us."
"How would he know? Even my father did not know, and he still works at the Ministry of Magic!" Ron asked in surprise.
"I reckon Mr Weasley probably already knew. He was probably worried you would be concerned," Harry said.
He simply took out the letter Draco had written to him and showed it to them. Ron was stunned by the contents of the letter, and Hermione held it for a long time before covering her mouth with her hand.
Hermione was extremely worried.
She only knew that Peter Pettigrew had escaped from prison, but she did not know there was such a secret behind it—that the prisoner had said those things, which sounded very targeted.
Both Draco and Harry were in extreme danger. No wonder Draco rushed home back then.
"You must be very careful, Harry, and do not go looking for trouble." After a long whilst, Hermione finally found her voice and said fearfully.
Ron asked worriedly, "Harry, do you really think he is coming to find you?"
"Maybe it is me, maybe it is Draco, maybe it is someone else." Looking at them, Harry became somewhat irritated. "Why are you all acting so afraid?"
"Nobody knows how he escaped from Azkaban; nobody has ever done it before," Ron said uneasily.
Harry opened his mouth as if to say something, but then hesitated and stopped.
He wanted to tell them Draco's guess, but Sirius seemed unwilling to bring it up.
"They will catch him, will they not? Those Aurors?" Hermione said earnestly.
"Do not forget, he can turn into a rat. Aurors can check pet shops, but they cannot possibly check every single rat that appears in Diagon Alley. I do not believe there are not rats in the sewers here," Harry said sarcastically.
"Tell me, why did he want to capture you? Does he want to capture you or kill you? Does he reckon that by dealing with you, You-Know-Who can make a comeback?" Ron asked.
"It is Voldemort," Harry corrected him sternly.
The three of them suddenly fell silent.
Crookshanks meowed softly on Hermione's lap, its bristling tail swaying from side to side, almost hitting Harry. Harry frowned, paying no attention to the cat's unusual behaviour.
"Have you all forgotten who has the most powerful magic in the wizarding world today? It is Professor Dumbledore. As long as he is at Hogwarts, no one dares to cause trouble!" Hermione said after a whilst, feigning cheerfulness.
"That is right." Ron's eyes lit up, and he chimed in, "And maybe he is here to see me!" He joked, then was startled by the possibility in his joke and shrank back.
"Did you tell Sirius about this?" Hermione asked.
"Sirius is not afraid at all; he even taught me a few Dark curses!" Harry smiled at them easily.
"Has he been staying home with you all holiday?" Hermione asked with interest.
"He is at home most of the time—he likes to stay in his room. But I have seen him sneak out of the Black house a few times in the middle of the night," Harry said. "He seems a bit suspicious about everything."
"Azkaban must have done a lot of damage to him…" Ron said with some fear.
"That place must be horrible," Harry agreed. "I found some old photographs of him the other day, and he looks completely different now. He is still a bit weak, but he has recovered somewhat from a month ago. He is a little quiet, but he is very kind to me."
"What is the Black family mansion like? I heard the Black family is a very old wizarding family, they should have house-elves," Ron asked curiously. His mother had been complaining again the other day that they needed a house-elf.
"There is a very old house-elf, but he has gone mad and does not like us much. The Black family's old house is quite grand, but it has not been cleaned in years. Thanks to Dobby from Draco's family, he stayed at the Black family's old house for several days, helping us clean and removing a lot of dangerous Dark magical items," Harry said.
"Oh, Dobby. I know him," Hermione said, recalling how Dobby would often open doors for her in Bath. "He is a very nice elf. Very clever and friendly."
"That sounds really good," Ron said enviously. They did not get a chance to continue their conversation when Mrs Weasley walked up to them, hands on her hips, and ordered them to go upstairs to bed.
The drowsiness seemed contagious. They yawned as they climbed the creaky stairs of the Leaky Cauldron, returned to their rooms, and soon drifted off to sleep.