A few evenings later, the students were enjoying dinner in the brightly lit Great Hall of Hogwarts.
Suddenly, a deafening crash echoed from the direction of the castle gates, and the heavy oak doors exploded into splinters, sending shards of wood flying.
A gaunt figure in ragged prison robes—Sirius Black—staggered into the entrance hall like a ghost risen from hell.
He wildly brandished his wand, letting out a hysterical roar. "Come out! I know you're here!"
Screams of terror instantly swept through the Great Hall.
Students panicked. Some dove under the tables, others shoved one another backward, and a few even drew their wands, eager to act.
The professors reacted swiftly. Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick almost simultaneously raised their wands, sharply scolding the students to maintain order and protect them.
"Black, stop it." Professor McGonagall's voice trembled with anger and tension; he was performing convincingly.
But Black seemed not to hear. He fired red Stupefy spells wildly into the Great Hall. The spells struck walls and long tables, sending sparks and debris flying.
The scene descended into utter chaos.
As he cast spells, he continued to howl, his voice filled with bone-deep hatred and despair, so realistic that even Professor Lupin, who was in on the plan, felt a stab of pain in his heart.
Just then, Sagres appeared on the staircase at one end of the entrance hall. He steadily raised his wand, pointing it at Black's "rampage."
"Sirius Black, surrender."
Sagres's voice, like a cold wave, clearly cut through the screams and spellfire.
Black spun around abruptly, a twisted smile of madness and provocation on his face. "You, alone?!"
Without the slightest hesitation, a Blasting Curse carrying destructive power shot straight at Sagres.
Students erupted in terrified screams, and even Professor McGonagall could not help widening her eyes.
As the spell reached him, Sagres dodged with effortless precision, the deadly magic grazing his robe before striking the stone pillar behind him.
Boom!
With a deafening crash, the solid pillar exploded, sending fragments of stone raining down.
At the same time, a dazzling, almost ostentatious burst of spell light erupted from the tip of Sagres's wand.
Accompanied by a cold incantation, an irresistible force slammed into Black's chest.
In an instant, Black's body was struck as though by an invisible giant hammer, hurled violently backward.
He spat out a large spray of crimson blood that arced through the air before he crashed heavily into the hard stone wall in the distance with a dull thud.
Then he slid to the ground like a rag doll, motionless.
Crimson blood quickly spread beneath him, staining the cold floor.
His grey eyes, once burning with the flame of revenge, now stared blankly at the soaring ceiling of the Great Hall, devoid of all life.
A deathly silence enveloped the entire Hogwarts Great Hall.
The screams and chaos abruptly ceased.
Students stared wide-eyed, eager to move closer and see the notorious murderer lying in a pool of blood.
Sagres slowly lowered his wand, as if he had merely crushed an insect.
He stepped forward, crouched down, and placed two fingers on Black's neck.
A moment later, he straightened and announced in a chilling voice:
"Sirius is dead."
Professor McGonagall's face was pale, her lips pressed tightly together as she concealed the turmoil within her.
Moments later, Dumbledore arrived in haste, accompanied by the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge.
Escorted by several Aurors, they quickly collected the "body" of Sirius Black.
The Minister, initially stunned, soon revealed a trace of relief and an almost imperceptible smugness.
"Excellent work, Professor Greengrass! Absolutely excellent!"
Fudge hurried forward, his voice slightly distorted by excitement. "You have rid the wizarding world of a major threat! Killed on the spot, clean and decisive! The Dementors will be disappointed, ha-ha-ha!"
He had intended to clap Sagres on the shoulder, but at the latter's glance, he immediately changed the gesture, pointing instead at Black's "body" on the ground.
Under Fudge's personal supervision, the Aurors carefully lifted Black's cold "body" with a Levitation Charm, covered it with a black shroud, and escorted it out of Hogwarts through the shattered main doors under the gaze of the entire staff and student body.
They would take this "trophy" back to the Ministry of Magic for what they called "final confirmation" and "archiving."
The next day, the news spread like wildfire, far faster than anyone had imagined. The front page of the Daily Prophet declared in the largest, boldest font:
[Breaking News! Demon Vanquished!]
Fugitive Sirius Black Breaks into Hogwarts, Killed on the Spot by Professor!
Minister Fudge Personally Confirms His Death! Wizarding World Returns to Peace!
The article vividly described how Black had launched a frenzied attack on the castle, how the professors had fought him bravely, and how, in the end, he had been completely annihilated by an astonishingly powerful spell.
Minister Fudge even delivered an impassioned speech, lavishly praising Sagres's achievements and proclaiming it a "major victory" for the Ministry of Magic in maintaining order.
The newspaper also included a blurry but striking photograph: Sagres standing in the entrance hall, with the shrouded stretcher being carried away in the background.
Fudge also subtly inquired whether Sagres was interested in the Order of Merlin, but Sagres simply pretended not to understand.
So Fudge went on to announce that all Dementors would be withdrawn immediately. This time, Sagres did give him a glance.
...
Deep within Hogwarts Castle, in the dark, damp pipe system, a rat with a missing toe trembled, curled up behind a cold water pipe.
Just a few days earlier, while the young wizards were enjoying their holiday in Hogsmeade, Peter Pettigrew had meticulously staged his "death." He simply used some blood and pulled out a tuft of fur, creating the illusion that he had been brutally murdered.
He had originally intended to frame Hermione Granger's cat, but to his surprise, Black actually broke into Gryffindor Tower that very night.
At that moment, he was almost ecstatic, believing that even Merlin was on his side.
He unhesitatingly abandoned his warm dormitory and stable source of food, and, in his Animagus form, like a true rat, hid himself within the castle's complex pipe system.
To be safe, he even slipped out of the castle for a time, hiding for two days in the damp piles of rotting leaves at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
A few days ago, Black's mad intrusion into the castle, followed by the terrifying magical fluctuations and the biting chill brought by the Dementors, had nearly frightened him to death.
He lived in constant fear, daring to sneak out only in the dead of night, cautiously nibbling at whatever scraps of food he could find.
During this time, every nerve was stretched taut, his ears constantly pricked, alert to any sound or movement.
He feared Black's reckless madness, and even more, he feared the powerful Greengrass.
However, when the latest Daily Prophet was discarded as bedding by a house-elf in a kitchen corner and then blown by the wind to the entrance of an abandoned pipe, Scabbers keenly sensed the scent of freedom.
Hunger and the long-accumulated lack of information finally overcame his lingering fear, compelling him to cautiously approach.
Through the faint light filtering through the cracks in the pipe, he saw it.
The enormous headline on the front page struck him like lightning.
"Sirius Black… is dead!"
Scabbers's heart nearly burst from his chest, as much as a rat's heart could beat so violently.
He greedily read the report word by word, especially the parts where Fudge personally confirmed the death and where the body was taken away by the Ministry of Magic.
Ecstasy.
Ha!
A tremendous surge of joy, like a drowning man finally grasping a piece of driftwood, instantly flooded his tiny body.
The nerves that had been stretched taut for months finally relaxed completely at that moment.
That heavy sense of dread also vanished into thin air.
"Dead… he's really dead! Killed! His body was even taken by the Ministry of Magic! Hahahaha!"
His tiny eyes gleamed with unbelievable excitement, and in the dark pipe he revealed a cruel smile. "The greatest threat is gone. No one will ever know my secret again! No one can identify me anymore!"
He spun around excitedly in place a few times, his small body trembling slightly with exhilaration.
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