Yes—Snape had a Pokémon now.
Perhaps on his own he wouldn't be able to defeat that three-headed dog, but with the help of a Pokémon, things might be different. The thought made Harry uneasy.
"At least if he did fight the dog, it would've caused a huge commotion—and we haven't heard anything like that," Ron said reassuringly. "Besides, there's no way Professor Gold would tell Snape how to get past his enchantments."
That made Harry feel a bit better.Snape might be strong enough to threaten Quirrell, but he definitely couldn't do anything against Professor Gold.
The two of them slowly made their way back to the Gryffindor common room, where they stayed from afternoon all the way into the late hours of the night. Ever since Dumbledore had forbidden students from releasing their Pokémon in the school corridors, they could only let them out in the clubroom or in the Gryffindor Tower.
"Here, have some meat, Inferno, Roundy."Ron handed food to his Houndour, who had been trying to chew on the sofa, and to his Sandshrew. He also tossed some fruit to his broomstick-riding friend, Nimbus.
By midnight, Ron was so tired he was nodding off."Should we go to bed?"
"Wait a bit longer."Harry hugged the sleeping Pikachu in his arms, eyes filled with expectation as he stared into the fireplace.
Ever since Christmas, he'd been waiting for a letter from Sirius. Sometimes his godfather had the strangest ways of contacting him—the last time, he'd appeared right through the flames of the fireplace.
"I think he's probably busy," Ron guessed, clearly reading Harry's thoughts. "He was locked up for ten years in Azkaban! Honestly, it's a miracle he didn't go mad from those Dementors."
"You're right."Harry nodded. He didn't fully understand what a Dementor was, but from everyone's descriptions, he could imagine how terrifying they were.
"Let's go—"
Whoosh!
The sound of roaring fire suddenly filled the room, cutting Harry off and catching both boys' attention.A face slowly took shape within the flames—it was Sirius Black.
"Sirius!" Harry shouted in delight, startling Pikachu awake.
"Pika?" The little Pokémon blinked, confused, looked around, and upon seeing no danger, immediately went back to sleep, snoring softly.
"How have you been lately, Harry?" Sirius' voice carried a warmth that made Harry's chest tighten.
"Pretty good, but I wrote you several letters! You never answered!" Harry complained.
"Sorry, sorry," Sirius said with a sheepish grin. "I've been looking for an old friend. Didn't know where he'd gone, so I've been traveling nonstop."From his tone, Harry could tell Sirius had already found him.
Sure enough, Sirius continued, "I finally found him now. You know, he and I were both your dad's best friends! But for a long time, I feared he'd betrayed us… and he thought I was the traitor."
There was a heavy sigh in his voice—one filled with regret and loss.
Harry understood perfectly.Two friends who had once trusted each other, torn apart by suspicion—that kind of mistake was hard to forgive.
After a short silence, the Gryffindor lions decided to put aside the unpleasant topics.
"Oh, right—next time you're on holiday, you can come stay with me. Remus will be there too. Remus Lupin—that's the man I mentioned."Sirius smiled. "I bet he won't believe how much you look like your father. You're practically the same person!"
Ever since learning that his parents had died to protect him, Harry had felt a strange pride whenever someone told him he resembled his father.At least it was better than those gawkers who only stared at his scar as if he were some kind of sideshow curiosity.
And now, the idea of spending a month of summer with Sirius filled him with excitement.Sirius had warned that his home wasn't exactly "pleasant," but Harry couldn't imagine any place worse than the Dursleys'.
After so long apart, the two of them talked about everything—from school life to recent events.Eventually, the conversation turned, inevitably, to Charles Gold.
"That man's really something," Sirius said with a laugh. "I've heard about him. Supposedly, back in his second year, he single-handedly beat every Slytherin who challenged him. And last year, he took down more than twenty pure-blood wizards and over twenty Aurors. If he'd been around during the Wizarding War, things might've gone a lot easier for us."
"Not just Slytherins—Snape couldn't beat him either," Ron added.
"That part's a rumor," Sirius said, shaking his head. "I may not like that greasy git, but I'll admit—Snape's powerful. He'd mastered the Dark Arts before he even came to Hogwarts and later invented several curses of his own. Out of all of us, only your father could ever outdo him."
In other words, Sirius wasn't afraid of Snape—but in a real duel, the outcome would be uncertain.
"And I've heard something else recently," Sirius said after a pause, his expression darkening. "Those twenty-five pure-blood wizards who clashed with your professor… they've all vanished. Their last confirmed sightings were before Christmas."
He didn't elaborate further—but the implication was clear.
Those wizards disappeared after Christmas.And coincidentally, Charles Gold had also been absent from Hogwarts around that time.
"You mean… the professor killed them?"Harry and Ron stared, stunned. They couldn't believe that their kind and approachable professor would resort to murder.
"The Ministry suspected as much. They looked into his travel records—he'd gone to the Sov—well, to Russia. And right then, there was a massive inferno there. Put the two together, and the suspicion is… considerable."
"But… I still can't believe it."
"That's human nature, Harry," Sirius said casually. "Everyone has two sides. Instead of worrying about whether Gold actually killed them, maybe you should wonder what those pure-bloods were doing gathering in Russia in the first place."
"You mean—they were trying to ambush him?"
"Something like that. But don't concern yourself with it. Besides, Fudge is already helping him handle the Ministry pressure."Sirius' face softened again. "Oh—and ask him for me, will you? See if he's free this weekend."
(End of Chapter)