Chapter 341 The Return of Sirius
The school was in chaos, with rumors about Della flying everywhere. Harry and Ron walked among all the gossiping classmates for a while, but not only did they not understand anything, they became even more confused.
What? The Malfoy family has fallen out of favor! Little Malfoy has been abandoned!
What? Riddle had been playing with two boys at the same time! This time it was Nott's jealousy that exposed her affair!
Even worse, some people even made up some unhealthy rumors. Draco came back from the boat angrily that morning, and some people thought that he saw his girlfriend and the third party at the same time.
As for where exactly he saw it... Harry didn't want to say more, but he always tried to kill anyone who spread such rumors with his eyes.
These confusing rumors were not clarified because none of the three people involved made a statement. Della never came to the castle again since that day, and in her only elective Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Professor Moody would always make up her absences and said that he would definitely make her fail.
Draco and Theodore remained silent on the matter amid the tension, but Professor Moody was very good at deliberately bringing them together in class, and Harry had to admit that he had some fun watching the hostility between the two boys while scratching his head with curiosity.
Before he knew it, the day had come when Sirius was coming to Hogsmeade, and he had never known how to deal with it. Harry, who had been avoiding it for so long, only started to worry about it with a stomachache the day before. He had not yet told Sirius about Cynthia's attitude, and he didn't know whether he should bring the burnt gold painting to Sirius.
His dilemma continued right before he left for Hogsmeade, and he finally made the decision not to take it. Hermione's stern look silenced his weak arguments, and finally the horribly burnt gold painting was stuffed into a bag containing chicken legs, bread and pumpkin juice.
The weather was very good today and it was noon, so the trio strolled in the warm and comfortable light, their steps becoming lighter. They planned to go to the Fengya clothing store first to buy a gift for Dobby, which would also serve as a cover-up. If they went straight out of the village after arriving at Hogsmeade, perhaps their suspicious behavior would spread among their classmates.
But no matter what, it can't be better than Della's gossip, Harry thought with a smile.
In the Fengya clothing store, an unexpected silver appeared before their eyes, Cynthia White. She took off her warm and windproof robe and wore a thick spring green long skirt that matched her eyes very well. A group of foreign boys surrounded her graceful figure.
"Oh..." Hermione immediately noticed Harry's expression. When she saw his surprise, suspicion and discomfort, she pulled the two people closer to her and said in a voice that only the three of them could hear, "You may not have noticed that although the students at Hogwarts avoided Cynthia, the boys at Durmstrang and Beauxbatons not only ignored the rumors, but also showed their courtesy to Cynthia."
"But White is related to dead people after all." Ron whispered, and Harry looked at Hermione inquiringly.
"Well... to some extent, mystery and danger are also a kind of charm, that's what we concluded," Hermione said hesitantly, speaking of the conclusion she and her roommates had come to, "and didn't people come over to her when she was in a bad mood before? It seems that some men just fall for her contemptuous look."
Harry listened in a daze. He looked at Cynthia in the center of the crowd, who was picking clothes with her arrogant and indifferent expression. Suddenly, he felt the heat from his schoolbag, as if the gold painting was burning again. He urgently wanted to throw the gift that carried Sirius's love in front of Cynthia.
Yes, he was angry. He was angry, very angry with Cynthia. Why did she just ignore Sirius's concern?
You have to know that Sirius was not one of those suitors who should be tortured by her, but the one who truly saved her and gave her a new life!
And Sirius didn't ask for anything from her, he was just giving his thoughts...
The anger in her heart made Harry's gaze gradually burn to a point that could not be ignored. Through the admiring and obsessed gazes of the crowd, Cynthia raised her emerald green eyes and accurately met Harry's lively green eyes.
Cynthia felt Harry's anger, but without blinking, she just curled the corners of her lips and nodded slightly, which was considered provocative in this situation, and continued to pick clothes. She had already selected several pieces and planned to buy them all.
Della Riddle was very generous, and she had accumulated a lot of money in the few months since she was given money. Cynthia, who was willing to try, inevitably spent a lot.
Harry's arms were shaking stiffly. He couldn't hold back his anger and took a step towards Cynthia, but was urgently stopped by Hermione who had been keeping an eye on him. Ron reacted immediately and pulled him back.
"No trouble today," Hermione stressed worriedly.
"Let's go back to Hogwarts and meet her again," said Ron, his eyes filled with the same anger as his good brother.
Harry managed to regain his wits, picked up a pair of brightly colored socks, and walked over to pay. Hermione hurried to follow, while Ron glanced viciously in Cynthia's direction.
It was not yet one o'clock, and there was still a long time before the two o'clock agreed in Sirius' letter. They went to Honeydukes again, and Harry bought a bunch of fudge and chocolates in a daze.
Harry carried the sweetness, the food and the gold painting, and followed his two good friends past the Davis-Bans store. They walked up a winding path and met the sloppy big black dog waiting for them at the end.
Seeing his godfather, Harry, who had something on his mind, tried to smile. He greeted him, and after the black dog climbed onto his schoolbag and sniffed it for a while, the three of them followed the black dog forward. They walked to the foot of the mountain sweating profusely and squeezed into a hidden and narrow crevice.
As soon as he entered, he saw the hippogriff Buckbeak. When he bowed as Hagrid taught him, Harry vaguely saw Cynthia through Buckbeak's arrogant look.
When she came to her senses, Hermione walked over and touched Buckbeak's neck, and the black dog in front of her turned back into the appearance of his godfather.
Sirius was still as thin as when they first met, his tattered robes hanging on him, and his messy, tangled hair sticking out like a wig. "Chicken!" he said to Harry in a hoarse voice.
Harry was distressed by Sirius's disheveled appearance and hoarse voice, and immediately wanted to tear open the bag and put all the food inside in front of his godfather who had traveled all the way for him. But when his hand touched the bag, Harry remembered the trampled feelings inside, and he stopped.
"What's wrong?" Sirius looked at Harry puzzledly.
In the brief silence, Hermione and Ron moved to Harry's side. Hermione looked at Harry and Sirius. She pursed her lips, intending to explain the truth to Sirius. "In fact, we have something to say--"
As soon as she started talking, Harry grabbed her wrist. In response to his godfather's increasingly puzzled gaze, Harry interrupted Hermione's words, "I'll do it," he said, finally unzipping his pants and calmly placing all the food in front of Sirius. When Sirius, who was starving, ate the chicken drumstick without caring, he talked about Miss White, who had always been concerned about Sirius, "I have something to tell you about Cynthia White, Sirius."
"What?" Sirius stopped eating and had a bad feeling in his heart.
The burnt gold painting was exposed to the light of day again in this narrow crack, and Harry finally revealed Cynthia's evil act of trampling on this affection.
The half-eaten chicken leg fell to the ground, splashing a small cloud of dust. Sirius frowned and looked at Harry, shock, confusion and heartbreak flowing in his gray eyes, and then without warning, he turned into a black dog.
Harry used his Quidditch Seeker's qualities and reacted faster than ever. Almost at the moment Sirius jumped out, he hugged his neck to stop him from rushing out. Ron and Hermione followed closely and pressed on the black dog.
"You can't go, it's too dangerous outside," the black dog struggled emotionally, and Hermione cried, "Think about Harry, you are the only one who will sign a permit for him, think about Harry, he only has you."
The black dog was still struggling, and the three children on top of him were shaking with his movements. However, amid Hermione's tears and sobbing, the amplitude of the shaking of the three people gradually decreased and finally stopped.
"Well," Sirius transformed back into human form, his voice even more husky, no emotion in his voice, "I'm not going to go look for her now."
The trio tentatively let him go, and watched in fear as Sirius picked up the golden painting that had just fallen to the side, ready to rush over and control him again, but Sirius just sat back in front of the food and started to eat again.
"Don't look at me like that. I didn't eat rats all the way here just for one thing," said Sirius, and even smiled. He nodded at the several copies of the Daily Prophet lying on the ground next to him. "Things are becoming more and more suspicious. We have a lot of information to exchange."
Ron picked up the newspaper, Hermione began to summarize the anomalies that she felt were problematic in her mind, and Harry was still paying close attention to Sirius. In this strange atmosphere, they talked about the Dark Mark at the Quidditch World Championship, the sad story of Crouch Jr. and Crouch Jr., and the never-ending Snape until half past three.
Before leaving, Harry made Sirius promise several times not to impulsively go to find Cynthia, and then he left with a worried look on his face.