Late at night, Gryffindor dormitory was silent.
Harry turned over, breathing evenly, clearly fast asleep. Ron lay on his side in bed, mouth slightly open, snoring softly.
A rustling sound came from under the covers.
Scabbers poked his head out from the edge of Ron's duvet, his two shifty eyes scanning the surroundings warily.
After confirming there was no danger, he carefully crawled out, moving with extreme caution, afraid of making any noise.
Moonlight streamed through the window, falling on him.
Scabbers' fur was dusty grey, with a few bald patches on his head, making him look ancient.
He squatted by Ron's pillow, his front paws unconsciously scratching the bedsheet.
The scene from the afternoon replayed repeatedly in his mind.
In the Shrieking Shack, the big black dog's gaze made him tremble all over.
That wasn't the look of an ordinary dog; it was the look of a human, or more precisely, the look of Sirius Black.
Scabbers was too familiar with that gaze.
Thirteen years ago, it was these eyes that stared at him, filled with anger and murderous intent. He thought he would never see these eyes again, because Sirius had been imprisoned in Azkaban.
But now, he had escaped.
And he had found Hogwarts.
Scabbers' claws gripped tighter, leaving several marks on the bedsheet.
Sirius must be after him.
Scabbers desperately wanted to flee far away at this moment, but where could he go?
He had been with Ron's family for thirteen years, long accustomed to being fed, having a warm bed, and not worrying about wind and rain.
To make him return to the wild, wander around, rummage through trash cans for food, and evade attacks from other animals?
He was unwilling to live that kind of life.
And in his current state, it was impossible for him to become a pet in a new family.
He was too old, his fur was ugly, and he shed. What normal person would choose him as a pet?
Scabbers was silent for a moment, then finally crawled back to the edge of Ron's duvet.
The Ministry of Magic would surely catch Sirius.
He prayed desperately in his heart... In the next few weeks, Hogwarts was unusually calm.
So calm that Charlie was a bit unaccustomed to it.
There had been too many strange occurrences in the previous two years. Charlie had grown used to something going wrong every so often. Now, with nothing happening, he felt a little uneasy.
Every weekend, Charlie would take Harry to Hogsmeade, but they never spotted Sirius.
Only that big black dog was often seen wandering around the Shrieking Shack. Every time Ron saw it, he would clutch his pocket tightly, to prevent it from scaring Scabbers.
In Divination Class, Professor Trelawney seemed very keen on prophesying Harry's death, which made Harry genuinely feel like dying every time Divination Class came around.
But the female students were very taken with it.
After class, Gryffindor's Parvati and Lavender would gather around Professor Trelawney, chattering about the patterns in their teacups.
Hannah would even run to Trelawney's classroom during meal times, returning with a mysterious expression, as if she had discovered some incredible secret.
However, not all girls liked Divination Class.
Hermione was almost fed up with Trelawney's nonsense.
In her opinion, only rigorous numbers like those in Arithmancy could truly predict the future. Trelawney's tricks of reading tea leaves and crystal balls had no logic whatsoever.
And Professor Trelawney was also the only Professor who said Hermione had poor talent.
She always said Hermione had no Inner Eye, which greatly displeased Hermione.
"She doesn't understand anything about prophecy!" Hermione said through gritted teeth.
Time came to the end of October, Halloween.
Students returned to Hogwarts from Hogsmeade for the feast. Today was the first day students went to Hogsmeade this semester without violating school rules.
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