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Chapter 960: Information from Sirius
🕑 Added 2023-12-16 12:50:51 +0000 UTCFollowing Hermione's gaze, Evan, Harry, and Ron turned their heads to look at the fireplace, and there was nothing in it except the flames.
"Did you see Sirius?" Harry asked.
He immediately slid off his chair onto his knees and crouched on the singed and threadbare hearthrug, gazing into the flames.
"Yes, I’ve just seen Sirius’s head in the fire!" Hermione assured.
"But there's nothing..."
"He should come out in a while. Remember the letter we received on Friday?" Evan analyzed, "I've been thinking that Sirius probably wanted to meet us, and that letter was a signal..."
"I thought you'd figured that out!" Sirius's voice came from the fireplace.
In the middle of the dancing flames loomed his head, long dark hair falling around his grinning face.
"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed delightedly.
"How are you, Harry?" said Sirius in a cheerful voice. "I haven't seen you in half a year, and you seem to have grown a little taller. In fact, since Friday night, I've been coming every hour to check on you. I didn't want anyone else to find out that I appeared in the fireplace at school to meet you..."
On Friday, there was a celebration in the Gryffindor common room because Ron joined the Quidditch team, and last night, because of Ron's poor performance in training, everyone lost interest and went to bed early.
Therefore, nobody noticed Sirius in the fireplace.
"I should have thought that you wouldn't write us a letter for no reason," Harry said, suddenly realizing.
"I thought you would notice, I left a code on the letter."
"We didn't even notice!
"So, the four of you are still far behind, and you have a lot to learn..." said Sirius with a smile.
"Wait, Sirius, Mad-Eye said that Hogwarts is under surveillance. You shouldn't be here, if the Ministry of Magic finds out..." said Hermione worriedly.
"Don't worry; I don't think they've had time to monitor the fireplace yet."
"But what if you're seen?" Hermione remained undeterred.
"Yeah, I think a girl — first year by the look of her — might’ve got a glimpse of me earlier!"
"It's Kate. She just came over to talk to Evan," Harry explained.
"She probably didn't notice you. Otherwise, she would have said something," said Evan hurriedly, not noticing Hermione's concerned expression.
"That's right, I was gone the moment she looked back at me and I’ll bet she just thought I was an oddly shaped log or something," said Sirius proudly. "I move very quickly."
"It's not about how fast you are; it's just too risky to do something like this!" Hermione persisted.
"Oh, Hermione, you sound like Molly, she keeps telling me to watch out for this, watch out for that!" said Sirius in a disapproving tone. "Don't worry about it. I just wanted to see you all before things get worse."
"Things get worse?" Evan frowned at him, "What on earth were you doing in Norway?"
“It's a long story, mainly trouble with vampires," said Sirius, his expression turning serious. "Apart from those who have missions and can't leave, most of the members of the Order of the Phoenix in Europe have gathered here, even Dumbledore!"
"That can't be. I saw the headmaster in the Great Hall during dinner on Friday," said Ron, surprised.
"For a wizard like him, long-distance travel is not difficult. It may only take a few minutes," said Sirius. "Of course, to outsiders, he’s still at Hogwarts."
"What's going on with the vampires?" Harry asked. "Is it something to do with Voldemort?"
"Well, it took me a few months to figure out what's really going on here," Sirius explained. "As you four probably know, these vampires are different from other clans. They are descendants of Salazar Slytherin himself. About a thousand years ago, that crazy old man left Hogwarts alone, carrying something dreadful with him. He traveled across Europe and eventually died in this country, leaving that thing behind. His descendants stayed here to guard it. The thing itself holds immense power and is extremely dangerous..."
"What is that thing?" Evan asked, following up, suspecting it might be what Caresius and Elaine were talking about.
"I don't know. Those vampires don't trust us. The information I got is not complete. We have to rely on our own deductions in many cases," said Sirius, glancing slightly at Evan. "According to the current information, that thing should be related to the evil god you’ve seen. Dumbledore believes that whatever it is, Voldemort wants to get his hands on it to make himself even more powerful. He has made some progress, and he might be here as well. We must stop him."
It was hard to imagine that the first confrontation between the Order of the Phoenix and Voldemort would take place in the faraway country of Northern Europe.
"This kind of thing is not as simple as two gangs getting together in a fight. The trouble here lies in the chaos of the situation. In addition to Voldemort and his Death Eaters, the Vampire Clan is also divided into different factions, and their opinions are not unified," Sirius continued. "Besides, this is Durmstrang's traditional sphere of influence, and those who advocate Dark magic might not necessarily be our allies. Furthermore, there are also the indigenous magical creatures in the Northern European region..."
“What do you mean?" Hermione asked, "Fantastic Beasts?"
“Not magical animals, but magical beings like centaurs, possessing intelligence and civilization. They lead relatively primitive lives and readily attack any wizards they encounter. We had a skirmish with them yesterday," said Sirius. "But that's not even the most troublesome part. Dumbledore is now concerned about something left behind by Grindelwald here. As things progress, we've discovered that Grindelwald had contact with those vampires decades ago. You should know that he was once an even more evil dark wizard than Voldemort, and no one knows how Dumbledore managed to defeat him."
While the specifics of Sirius's situation were unclear, the thought of so many forces gathering together was frightening. Durmstrang, vampires, hostile magical beings, Voldemort and his Death Eaters, evil gods, and Grindelwald...
With all these elements coming together, one could easily imagine that the area where Sirius was must be in complete chaos!
