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Chapter 81: the Omen of Despair
🕑 Added 2019-08-15 15:35:44 +0000 UTCMalfoy didn’t reappear at the Slytherin table until Wednesday morning. He swaggered into the Great Hall amid the cheers of Slytherin students; his right arm covered in bandages and bound up in a sling, as though he were the heroic survivor of some dreadful battle.
Harry and Ron looked disdainful at his appearance, but Malfoy himself was proud and made a face at them provocatively.
Harry turned his head aside and tried to restrain himself as if he had not seen Malfoy's provocation. He found everyone around him looking down at today's Daily Prophet.
“What are you looking at?" Harry asked strangely.
“The latest news about Sirius Black!" Hermione whispered, giving him the newspaper.
Harry saw it, and it read: Black had been sighted by a Muggle somewhere not too far from Hogwarts. By the time the Ministry of Magic got there, he was gone and he’s currently being hunted.
It was assumed that Sirius Black was trying to enter Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Harry swallowed. What did Sirius Black want to get into Hogwarts for? Did he really want to kill him as Mr. Weasley said?!
At the thought of being targeted by such a madman, Harry suddenly lost his appetite. What made him more sick was that he had to rely on Dementors outside the castle to protect him.
"It’s really bad. He showed up somewhere not far from here!" Ron said anxiously, "This Black, how on earth did he escape the Dementors?"
"Maybe it’s the Patronus Charm?!"
“That’s impossible. He doesn't have a wand, and there are two hundred Dementors outside." Hermione said quickly. "Do you know what it means?"
Seeing Harry, Ron, and Hermione muttering in a low voice, Evan did not participate in their discussion. What he needed to consider now was how to control Peter Pettigrew and get in touch with Sirius Black smoothly.
These two things were easy to say, but difficult to pull off.
The easiest way was undoubtedly to go to Dumbledore and tell him that Ron's rat Scabbers was in fact Peter Pettigrew in his Animagus form. With Dumbledore's ingenuity, as long as he got the news, he would be able to figure out the whole story.
The problem was that, like with Tom Riddle's diary last year, Evan didn't know how to explain to him how he knew Scabbers was Peter Pettigrew.
It was a very bad feeling to know everything and be unable to do anything.
Evan sighed. It seemed that he had to deal with everything on his own. He was not in a hurry concerning Sirius Black. First, he had to find a way to control Peter Pettigrew. He remembered that there was a very useful potion in the book Moste Potente Potions.
Just as Evan was thinking about it, Malfoy suddenly walked over the long table. He stood behind Harry, his eyes shining malevolently.
“Have you seen your pal Hagrid lately?"
Nobody paid any attention to him. Harry and Ron clenched their fists and tried to restrain themselves.
“What a pity, I'm afraid he won’t be a teacher much longer," said Malfoy in a tone of a mock sorrow. “Father is not very happy about my injury!"
"Get out of here before I beat you up, Malfoy," snarled Ron.
“If I were you, I wouldn't be so impulsive. It wouldn't be of any benefit to you and your good pal Hagrid. You’ll soon know..." Malfoy's eyes fell on the newspaper in Harry's hand and he continued, "Well, thinking of trying to catch Black single-handed, Potter?"
“What does this have to do with you?"
“Of course, if it was me..." Malfoy's thin mouth was curving in a mean smile. "I wouldn’t be staying in school like a good boy; I would be out there looking for him."
“What are you talking about, Malfoy?” said Ron roughly.
“Don't you know, Potter?" breathed Malfoy, his pale eyes narrowed. "If it was me, I would want revenge. I would hunt him down myself."
“What are you trying to say?" said Harry angrily.
"It's really disappointing to me. You may not want to risk your life in the hope that the Dementors will deal with him, do you?"
"Malfoy, if you have anything to say, either say it out loud or get out of here." Ron pulled out his wand.
“Five points from Gryffindor!" Snape came quietly and sneered, "Weasley, put away your wand, I don't want to see you spit out those disgusting slugs everywhere.”
Ron's face turned red. Malfoy gave a fake smile and followed Snape away.
Harry kept looking at his back, thoughtfully.
“Awful, why did Snape deduct points from Gryffindor? It was clear that Malfoy first came to provoke Harry, and said something despicable," said Ron angrily.
“You shouldn't have given him a chance. Snape has been staring at us for a while, and he was waiting for you to show a flaw," whispered Hermione.
“If he wants to deduct points, he can just find any excuse." Ron picked up his schoolbag. "We have double Potions this morning. Hope it won’t be too hard."
In fact, the third-year Potions was almost a disaster. Harry and Ron cut all the ingredients for Malfoy's lesson. Snape threatened Neville to poison his pet unless he could cook the antidote by himself.
Finally, Neville's antidote was a success, but Snape still deducted five points from Gryffindor, on the grounds that Neville's toad did not die because of Hermione’s help.
All Gryffindor young wizards thought they were going to put up with Snape to the extreme, but that was clearly not the limit Snape could do.
Soon, everyone would personally see what despair was, which might be the third omen.
It happened in the third year’s Defence against the Dark Arts class in the afternoon. Professor Lupin found a Boggart for them. This was a shape-shifting dark creature. It would see through one's heart and become whatever they most feared.
Evan didn’t remember well what most other people were afraid of, but Neville’s biggest fear in the world was obviously Snape.
Encouraged by Lupin, Neville used the Ridiculous spell to turn “Snape” into a funny image: he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag.
The story spread quickly on campus.
Gryffindor's students laughed all night, and in Snape's ensuing storm of retaliation, they soon lost their laughter.
Now, wheneverProfessor Lupin's name was mentioned, Snape's eyes glittered with threat; he bullied Neville more than ever. Ginny secretly told Evan in Potions class the following day that she had seen Neville secretly wiping his tears at noon that day.
Evan sympathized with Neville, but they were now in trouble.
Snape walked up and down in the second year Potions class, looking at every Gryffindor student in a gloomy way, trying to find all kinds of reasons to deduct points from them.
In less than an hour, he deducted more than 50 points from them and successfully made three girls cry.
In this lesson, no one except Evan successfully completed their potion.
Snape glared at Evan and ignored him. He severely satirized the others and assigned so much homework that it was almost impossible to finish it.
As for the poor Boggart, it was said that Snape used a magic spell to blow it into smoke and it disappeared completely.
Evan felt very sorry about this. He also wanted to see what he was most afraid of.
