Chapter 368: Sirius: I'm Just Reckless, Not Stupid (Edited)

"Expecto Patronum!"

A silver-white stag flew out of Harry's wand and fought with Buckbeak.

Neither side was serious, of course, but were merely making noise in the forest in a sort of jostling.

Two days earlier, when Harry had faced Fluffy, after several attempts, he had summoned a full Patronus, but the big dog had knocked Harry's Patronus out with a light slap.

So Harry had to switch to Buckbeak, a hippogriff with which Harry was familiar.

Sirius stared longingly at the stag Harry had summoned with a sense of relief.

To be able to summon a physical Patronus in his third year, Harry is worthy of being James and Lily's son, and his talent is very good.

You should know that all of them mastered the Patronus Charm after fifth grade...except Pettigrew Peter.

Damn it, why didn't I think of that at the time! The dark wizard inside can't summon a Patronus!

However, at the time they only thought it was due to Peter's lack of talent, and Sirius teased him several times.

Although Peter's inability to summon a Patronus was probably due to his lack of talent, it still bothered Sirius, and he was now so puzzled that he became irritable whenever Pettigrew Peter was involved.

"Cold, are you all right?"

Just as Sirius was snorting heavily and kicking the ground with his paws, Harry suddenly came over and asked with concern.

Harry didn't know what was going on, but he had only known the big dog for a few days, and he felt very attached to him, and Cold had been very gentle with him....

Harry felt like taking the dog with him.

Unfortunately, the Dursleys would never agree.

"Oooh..."

Sirius, calmer, let out a low moan and licked Harry's palm to show him it was okay.

Harry looked at him carefully, seeing that the big black dog was just looking at him kindly as usual, so he was relieved and continued with the "dual practice" with Buckbeak.

Sirius, meanwhile, found a place to lie down and watched Harry silently.

He had been trying to infiltrate the castle for the past couple of days, but with fewer people in the school over the vacations and the teachers out of classes, the level of security inside the school had increased, making it harder for Sirius to infiltrate.

So he simply stopped thinking about it and settled in next to Harry, watching him.

Soon after, Fish arrived in the Forbidden Forest and replaced Harry in the castle.

Unlike Fish, Harry could not disappear from sight for long, as he was being watched.

Once Harry left, it was Fish's turn to make a scene.

"Expecto Patronum nya!"

Sirius, who was about to leave, stopped dead in his tracks when he heard Fish recite the Patronus Charm as well, still thinking that young wizards were really something, and that someone else had learned the Patronus Charm.... Damn!

Sirius watched in amazement as the giant Patronus wielding several "tentacles" bound the three-headed dog named Fluffy into a giant baby silkworm and lifted it into the air to the sound of Fish's laughter.

Sirius, who had seen Fish's Patronus for the first time, was once again pleased that Fish had not been there when he burst into the Gryffindor dormitory.

Also...

Are you sure that "noise" would actually attract Sirius Black and not scare him away?

Even though I, Sirius, am an old man of Gryffindor, I'm not a fool!!!!

The big black dog lay on the ground and calmed down for a moment, then staggered to his feet, shaking his head and staggered away.

...

While Fish and Harry went on with their plans, the rest of the castle was decorated with colorful Christmas decorations as in previous years. Thick ribbons of holly and mistletoe lined the corridors, and mysterious lights twinkled in every suit of armor.

On Christmas Day, Fish's dormitory was once again overflowing with boxes of presents, and the twins and Percy soon arrived to help Fish open them, as they had done in previous years.

The presents Fish received this year were not much different from the previous two years, apart from some new Muggle society snacks, it was Hermione who made the most interesting gifts.

She gave Fish a small flying car, which Hermione had modified from a Muggle society toy car, perfect for Fish in his cat form.

But Fish already had a child's broom from Professor McGonagall, and now he could use the half-finished Patronus Charm to send himself into the sky, not to mention the hordes of flying creatures in the Forbidden Forest, so the flying car was nothing more than a fun toy for him.

After unwrapping Fish's presents, everyone unwrapped presents from Harry, Ron and Neville, who also stayed at the school.

Harry's Christmas present was nothing special, but Ron received a gift from the twins, a complete set of Chudley Cannons souvenirs, plus the ever-changing fuchsia sweater.

"Oh my gosh, is this really for me?!"

Ron was overcome with surprise as he held up the box full of badges, cards, uniforms and other memorabilia.

"Of course, dear Ronnie." George raised his chin triumphantly.

Then Fred took, gesturing with his index finger and thumb, and said with mock reserve, "As you know, we've been making a bit of money with Fish lately."

"So it's just a souvenir game for you, no big deal."

"Besides, the Chudley Cannons have had a poor record the last two years and we spent a lot less money than we expected."

Ron was so happy from ear to ear that he didn't even mind the twins making fun of the Chudley Cannons.

Only Percy looked slightly embarrassed, of course he had given Ron a present, but it wasn't worth much.

They then opened Neville's Christmas present together and found a copy of Manipulating Your Memories inside.

"Erm... this was sent to me by Uncle Algie..." Neville's fat face turned red: "He's always trying to inspire me..."

About Neville's uncle, Harry and the others had heard Neville talk before, a man who had pushed eight year olds into the lake and knocked it off buildings.

"Ahem, at least he didn't try to throw you off a building this time, did he?"

Said a cheerful Ron as he patted Neville's shoulder.

However, it didn't seem to have much effect.

After opening the presents, everyone made their way to the Great Hall, where the usual twelve Christmas trees with golden stars shining on them were set up.

Due to the large number of people staying at the school, only two of the four long tables were removed and the four houses were seated together, although it was clear from where everyone sat that the Slytherins were still less popular and were mostly clustered together, while the other three houses sat interspersed.

Harry, Ron and Neville found the Hufflepuff students they usually sat with and went over to sit with them, while Fish bounced over to the teachers' table and sat next to Professor McGonagall.

A few moments later, Professor Trelawney, rarely seen, arrived in the Great Dining Hall, exchanged pleasantries with Dumbledore and then ran to sit on the other side of Fish, causing Professor McGonagall to roll her eyes.

"That's everyone," Dumbledore said as he stood up, smiling and looking around the room before waving his hand, "Let's eat!"

"Professor Lupin seems to have disappeared again."

Harry whispered to Ron as he glanced around the teachers' table.

"Who knows, maybe he's back from vacation."

Ron didn't care where Lupin was, he replied nonchalantly as he scrambled to fill his plate with various foods.

Hermione, sitting across from them both, blinked, but said nothing more.