Chapter 258

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As soon as Madame Pomfrey disappeared into her office, the headmaster looked at the black dog sitting quietly on the floor next to Harry's bed.

"Now, I want the two of us to take off our masks in front of each other. Sirius... please take your usual form."

The black dog looked at the headmaster, and in the next moment, he turned into a man in a pretty good, albeit old-fashioned, brown suit. Sirius didn't look like that downtrodden bum. His hair was hanging down to his shoulders, and his face had a neat beard with small sideburns. However, to erase from the face the fact of being in Azkaban for twelve years is not so easy - the man looked fifty in his thirty-four.

Mrs. Weasley shrieked, bouncing off the bed:

"Sirius Black!"

Nymphadora and Andromeda instantly drew their wands, pointing them at their potential enemy, but I raised my hand, urging them at least not to strike at once.

"Mom, be quiet!" shouted Ron. "Everything is fine!"

Lurking in the shadows of the hospital wing, Snape didn't yell or jump, but anyone who knew him even a little would have been surprised to see such vivid hatred on the professor's face. It was, by the way, their mutual feelings.

"He!" growled Snape, looking at Sirius. "What is he doing here?"

"He was invited by me," Dumbledore replied, shifting his gaze from one to the other, "as well as you, Severus. I trust both of you. It's time to forget old grudges and trust each other."

It amused me to watch this adorable picture. For a full minute, Dumbledore ranted about how important every second is in these turbulent times, and it was time to cooperate. Anyway, unhurriedly, Sirius and Severus shook hands, immediately almost bouncing off as if from fire. Dumbledore gave them valuable instructions - to Snape, "you know what I want to ask," and to Sirius to gather "the old company and lay low." Harry was against parting ways with his godfather, but who would have asked him.

Sirius and Severus left the hospital wing.

"You, Mr. Knight, as I can see, do not need a rest?" Dumbledore allowed himself a slight smile, but purely out of politeness.

"Of course not. I only survived the Avada."

Dumbledore chuckled into his beard.

"By the way, how?"

"Transfiguration, Headmaster," I spread my hands to the side. "Managed to transfigure a rather thick object out of thin air. Really didn't know exactly what it was or what kind of material I was conjuring. It still ended up tearing up and stunned me, dispelling the transfiguration. But it did the trick. It's a good thing Avada has such a bright beam, or they would have figured out the trick."

"It's good to hear that my favorite discipline helped you and Mr. Potter get out. Well, since you don't need rest, I would like to ask you to escort Mrs. Tonks and her daughter and return to the common room. But if possible, as you know how, imperceptibly."

"All right, Headmaster."

I walked quickly to the bedside table, put on my jacket and coat, and returned my wand to the holster on my forearm. I think that's it.

"Aunt Dromeda, Nymphadora, please follow me."

"Hmm..." the cousin pouted, changing her hair color a couple of times, but she didn't object. Not in Dumbledore's presence, it seems.

As I walked past Potter's bed, I couldn't help but say a few words:

"Don't get sick, Harry."

"Thank you," he nodded. "And... for the cemetery. Also, thanks."

"Learn more and practice more, then next time you can get out on your own and even save someone."

"Next time?"

"Voldemort is reborn," I shrugged. "The question is not whether there will be the next time. The question is: when and how?"

So we left the hospital wing without saying goodbye, followed by the words, "Too many Blacks..."

"My heart almost went in my heels!" Nymphadora wanted to either hug me or beat me or kill me, but she couldn't decide. In the end, she even somehow became depressed. "It would be too unfair to lose a cousin before I can find one."

"Don't worry, Nymphadora. I am tenacious. It is not so easy to kill me."

We reached the castle exit in silence.

"Wouldn't it be easier to use a fireplace in someone's office?" I couldn't help but clarify.

"Whose? Everyone is obviously busy because of what happened," replied Andromeda calmly. "And it's not far to walk here, and from Hogsmeade, we can already apparate."

"As you wish. Anyway, I was glad to meet my relatives."

"It's totally mutual, Max," Aunt smiled. "You did a great job. Both with the Tournament and the situation."

"Tried my best. What will you do?"

"The same as always. I work at Mungo, and there is always a lot of work. I'm afraid it will only increase in the near future."

"And I joined the Aurors, so I'm a cool witch too," smiled the cousin. "So watch out, don't break the laws, or I'll have to kick your ass."

"It's nice to know I have such talented relatives."

"By the way, you seem to know Uncle Sirius?"

"We're not really close."

"You tell me, Max, is he, well, guilty?"

"No, he was framed. It's a long story, and it seems to me that you will still have time to figure it out."

"I'll figure it out!" Nymphadora threatened the heavens.

"All right. Have a good trip."