For the time being, Snape agreed that we would escort Peter to Hogwarts and hand him over to the Dementors.
"Very well. I shall accompany you back to the castle. Lupin, remain here."
After having his ropes removed, Snape conjured a pair of handcuffs out of thin air and instructed Ron and Sirius, who had administered some first aid, to secure Peter with them.
"Why are you the one taking charge…?" Sirius muttered.
Seeing Sirius's clear dissatisfaction, Snape curled his lips into a nasty, self-satisfied grin and said,
"For the sake of protecting the son of your so-called best friend, make yourself useful for once. Or what, do you intend to dump that filthy little runt over there on a female student?"
"Hmph. Coming from someone who didn't have a girlfriend or even any real friends back in school, that carries a special kind of weight."
"Oh? Sounds like you're feeling nostalgic for Azkaban."
"Careful, or I'll knock you out again."
"Are you two planning to keep this up until I transform?" Lupin cut in sharply.
Urged on by Professor Lupin, we finally started moving.
At the very front was Hermione's cat, followed by Harry, Ron, Peter, and Sirius strung together like a centipede race. From behind, Snape kept his wand trained on them as if daring anyone to make the slightest suspicious move.
Every so often, his wand tip twitched toward Sirius's back with an almost unbearable urge to cast a curse, but that was probably just my imagination.
＊＊
After passing through the long tunnel and emerging into the school grounds, we found ourselves already enveloped in darkness. The only light came from the glow leaking out of the castle windows, and we advanced in silence.
After a while, the clouds suddenly parted, and moonlight shone down on us.
However, since Professor Lupin was not present, there was no event involving a rampaging werewolf.
As Sirius and Harry walked across the grounds, chatting cheerfully about what they would do if Harry left the Dursleys and lived together with him, the light spilling from the castle windows gradually grew brighter.
Sirius, completely absorbed in his conversation with Harry, the son of his long-lost best friend, failed to notice Snape glaring at the two of them with open bitterness. Peter did not miss the brief moment when their attention slipped.
"Black! Sirius Black is here!"
Until then, Peter had been quiet. Now he suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing across the entire school grounds.
"Peter, you ..."
Sirius tried to silence him in a panic, but it was already too late.
The very next instant, a bone-chilling cold surged toward us from the darkness, and everyone was struck speechless.
"Tch…!"
Snape clicked his tongue and stopped, turning around. From the direction of the Forbidden Forest, an eerie cold began to drift in, and countless Dementors emerged from it.
There were at least a hundred of them. Forming a mass of pitch-black shapes, they glided toward us at terrifying speed.
"Expecto Patronum! Come forth, guardian spirit!"
Snape immediately raised his wand and cast the spell. A silver doe appeared, and for some reason, Sirius stared at it with wide eyes.
"Snape, you ..."
"Forget that and cast your Patronus already!"
Snapped at, Sirius borrowed Lupin's wand and began casting the Patronus Charm as well.
However, worn down by years of hiding, using a borrowed wand, and burdened by the long gap caused by his time in Azkaban, he was clearly not at his best.
Meanwhile, the Dementors took advantage of their numerical superiority, spreading out and closing in on us from all directions, even from above.
"Expecto Patronum!"
To support Snape and Sirius, who were forced entirely onto the defensive, Harry cast the Patronus Charm. Just as Hermione and I were about to follow—
"Waaah!?"
Ron's scream suddenly rang out from behind us. When I turned around, I saw that Ron, unsteady on his bandaged leg, had fallen to the ground. Peter leapt for the wand Ron had dropped.
Most likely, he had taken advantage of Ron's momentary panic at the Dementors' appearance and tackled him.
"Expelliarmus! Disarming Charm!"
I immediately cast the spell, but it was already too late.
Peter had already transformed into a rat. His balding tail slipped deftly through the handcuffs that hung loosely from Ron's limp arm.
Just like that, Peter dashed into the grass and, without a single backward glance, dove straight beneath the swarm of Dementors.
At this point, there was nothing we could do.
In animal form, Peter would not be attacked by Dementors, but the same could not be said for us. Even Black, the only remaining Animagus, was barely managing to fend off the attacking Dementors with his faint Patronus.
And with every passing moment, searching for a single rat in the darkness would become ever more hopeless.
(Still, that was impressive presence of mind at the last second…)
Cornered by the looming threat of Azkaban, Peter seized a fleeting opening and outwitted everyone with a split-second decision. Enemy though he was, it was worthy of admiration.
Adapting Black's escape method on the spot, deciding instantly to steal a wand and flee, and boldly charging straight into the Dementors' ranks. Even if it was all for self-preservation, it perfectly showcased the strengths of both Gryffindor and Slytherin.
"Sirius, he got away! Pettigrew transformed!" Harry shouted, having noticed as well.
But it was already too late. Sirius and Snape were fully occupied dealing with the Dementors and had no room to give chase.
Worse still, the situation had flipped. Even the slightest lapse now could result in all of us having our souls sucked out. Snape's and Sirius's Patronuses were barely holding the line, and it was anyone's guess how long that would last.
Harry struggled desperately to conjure his own Patronus. Ron was injured, and both Hermione and I, having put off practicing such a situationally limited spell, could manage no more than a mist-like Patronus at best.
(Then in that case…!)
I pointed my wand toward the castle and began to chant the spell.
"Periculum! To the rescue!"
As I chanted the spell, smoke and red light burst from the tip of my wand, sending a distress signal toward Hogwarts Castle.
Yes, if resolving things on our own was too difficult, there was no need to force ourselves to drive them off. We could simply borrow someone else's strength.
The school grounds were not far from the castle. As long as we could buy time until either Headmaster Dumbledore or Filch, who was making his nightly rounds, noticed the distress signal and rushed over with reinforcements, even a mist-like Patronus should suffice.
"Expecto Patronum! Come forth, guardian spirit!"
Casting the spell as a last resort, I saw something like smoke emerge from my wand, slowing the movements of the Dementors that had drawn close.
Hermione beside me was not having much success, but from Harry's wand, a hazy Patronus similar to mine appeared. For now, we were just barely managing to protect ourselves.
If that was the case, then all that remained was to endure and trust that help would arrive.
"Harry."
Perhaps my support had given him a bit of breathing room. As Harry struggled desperately to summon his Patronus, Sirius spoke to him in a gentle voice.
"Sirius, I—"
"Calm down. James and Lily struggled at first too, but in the end, it became a spell they both excelled at."
The way Sirius spoke to Harry was incredibly warm.
"So you should be able to do it as well. There is no way the son of James and Lily cannot. I believe that."
And then, Sirius added,
"You'll live with me from now on, won't you?"
Sirius smiled broadly. Harry looked stunned for a moment, but soon his expression cleared, as if he had finally shaken something off.
"Sirius, let's do it together."
"Agreed. I was just thinking it was time to start the spell over myself."
Despite the dire situation, their expressions were like those of mischievous boys standing on the brink of an exciting adventure.
"On three, all right?"
Harry nodded, and the two of them stood side by side, raising their wands.
"Three, two, one!"
"Expecto Patronum! Come forth, guardian spirit!"
As Harry and Sirius shouted in unison, blinding flashes erupted from the tips of their wands. This time, clearly formed Patronuses appeared: a stag and a large dog.
Radiating white, ethereal light, the two Patronuses scattered the Dementors one after another. Their coordination was magnificent, so perfectly in sync that it was hard to believe this was their first time fighting together.
"…Prongs."
A single tear traced its way down Sirius's cheek as he murmured hoarsely, and at last, the Dementor horde seemed to give up and retreat.
＊＊
Thus, the threat of the Dementors passed.
Sirius collapsed in utter exhaustion. Snape placed the injured Ron onto a stretcher he had conjured with magic, while Harry, Hermione, and I stood there at a loss.
Of course, the pressing issue now was Sirius himself.
No matter how you looked at it, without Pettigrew, his innocence could not be proven.
Looking toward the castle, we saw lights beginning to flicker on here and there. Presumably having received the distress signal I sent out, the professors came running toward us in a hurry, Filch leading the way with a lantern held high.
"Black."
Breaking the silence, Snape was the first to speak. With a clearly displeased expression, he approached Sirius and pulled a brown lump from his pocket.
"Eat it. Now."
What he held out was a bar of Honeydukes' finest chocolate. It was about as unfitting as it could possibly be.
Sirius stared in astonishment at the chocolate resting in Snape's hand.
"You didn't put poison in it, did you?"
"If you'd like, I can add acromantula venom or basilisk poison."
"…I'll pass."
With an expression that seemed to say he wished Sirius had not refused, Snape shoved the chocolate into his hands.
"I'll inform Dumbledore myself. Leave at once, before I change my mind."
Harry immediately protested.
"Wait! If it's Dumbledore"
"Whether Dumbledore believes you is irrelevant."
Snape cut him off sharply.
"With Pettigrew gone, there is no way to prove your innocence. Under those circumstances, no one will listen to anything an escaped convict says, no matter how much a minor, a werewolf, or a former Death Eater tries to defend him."
As Harry and Sirius still looked as though they wanted to argue, Snape spoke again, irritation clear in his voice.
"You can send letters later by owl post or whatever else you like. Try using your head a little."
Just as Snape said, as long as Sirius stayed alive, there would be as many chances as it took.
"Harry, we'll meet again."
"Definitely?"
"Yes."
After giving Harry one last lingering look, Sirius quickly crunched down the chocolate and transformed into a large black dog. In animal form, he would be able to slip past the Dementors' security outside Hogwarts.
Turning back to look at us one final time, the great black dog let out a long howl and then vanished toward the forest.
(End of chapter)
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