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Crookshanks hopped along in front, full of spirit and pride, while the big black dog followed behind with its head hanging.
Ever since it had lost, Crookshanks had come looking for it every few days.
Yes. It had lost. It had lost to a little cat.
And no matter where it hid, as long as it was at Hogwarts, the little cat could eventually find it.
Left with no choice, it could only faithfully perform the duty of a sidekick.
Even now, it could not understand why it had lost to such a tiny thing. It understood even less why Crookshanks's strength was so terrifying and his speed so absurd.
By all appearances, the big black dog should have been able to pin the cat to the ground with one paw. Instead, it had been pinned to the ground by Crookshanks's paw.
The big black dog followed Crookshanks all the way to the top of one of Hogwarts Castle's towers. This was the Owlery, originally the place where the owls roosted.
Today, however, there were not only owls here. There were also many animals of all kinds.
Toads, cats, rats, and so on. Of course, owls were still the most numerous.
These were the students' pets at Hogwarts.
Draco's eagle owl, Harry's owl Hedwig, and Neville's toad Trevor were all among them.
When Crookshanks appeared, the pets obediently opened a path, as though subjects were welcoming the arrival of their king.
Crookshanks held his head high and strutted forward, leading the big black dog directly to the main seat. He was a cat who would become a roaming swords-cat in the future.
As they passed, the pets all studied the big black dog with curious eyes.
The big black dog tried to lower its head as much as possible.
For the first time in its life, it was surrounded and watched by a crowd of pets.
After Crookshanks meowed several times, he somehow took out a bag.
The moment the bag appeared, none of the pets' eyes left it. Their eyes gleamed.
Something inside clearly fascinated them.
When Crookshanks opened the bag, the big black dog saw what was inside.
A bag of pet food.
Magical Creature Feed (Perfect): Suitable for mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and birds.
The moment the bag opened, the pets began stirring restlessly, looking eager to try and snatch it. After Crookshanks gave a single meow, they all settled down obediently.
'It is just a bag of pet food. I thought it was something rare.'
The big black dog did not think much of it. It had seen this kind of ordinary brown pellet in pet shops before.
Although it was rather hungry now, it would not eat pet feed.
Crookshanks held the bag in his mouth and began distributing food to the other pets.
Although it was only a small bag, it seemed endless. He poured some in front of every pet, yet the feed in the bag showed no sign of decreasing.
Naturally, a full bowl was piled in front of the big black dog as well.
It refused to eat this thing. It would rather rummage through kitchen rubbish than eat this.
'He really is treating me like a sidekick.'
The big black dog complained inwardly.
Thinking that, the big black dog unconsciously lowered its head and took a small bite.
'I may as well put on an act.'
It still could not leave Hogwarts. It had to stay here. As long as it could catch that traitor, never mind eating a little pet feed. It would even eat dung if it had to.
Yet the instant its tongue touched the feed...
It froze.
This flavor.
'Marvelous!'
Somewhere deep inside the big black dog, a person seemed to be rolling his eyes back and shouting.
'It is far too delicious!'
This was the best thing it had eaten in decades.
It quickly swallowed, then began taking a second bite.
Once it started eating, it could not stop at all.
It began wolfing the food down with loud chomps. Before long, it had wiped out all the feed in front of it and even licked the crumbs on the bowl completely clean.
After finishing, it still licked the corner of its mouth, unsatisfied.
It even began looking forward to when it could eat again.
But very quickly, enormous guilt filled the big black dog's heart.
'What are you doing, Sirius?'
'Your goal is to catch Peter, that damned traitor!'
'No. I cannot keep falling like this!'
The big black dog's gaze grew increasingly firm. Then it looked toward Crookshanks.
Crookshanks sensed the big black dog's gaze and thought it had not eaten enough, so he asked.
"Meow?" Want more?
The big black dog froze slightly, then nodded hard.
It needed to eat its fill to have the strength to catch someone.
After happily enjoying a meal, it found a chance to get the password to the common room from one of the Gryffindor pets.
If the Fat Lady had been guarding the entrance, entering the Gryffindor common room would not have been easy. But the guard was Sir Cadogan, so it was far too simple. That fellow did not care who spoke the password.
Once the students all went to class in the morning...
It would be a perfect opportunity.
"Want to play together?"
"Yes!"
The other pets made their request. In a good mood, the black dog immediately agreed and happily played with the group of pets.
The next day, the Gryffindor students began filing out of the common room, yawning and rubbing their eyes. A few who had woken up late rushed out of the dormitory with their textbooks in hand.
In Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Lupin looked at the silver thread-like material spraying from the tips of the students' wands and felt somewhat helpless.
Even with his personal instruction, the students' progress was still rather painful to watch.
That was how advanced spells were. Aside from effort and a good teacher, they also required a certain amount of talent.
This was also why professors at magical schools rarely taught advanced spell knowledge.
"Professor, I think you need a teaching aid."
Dudley believed that the problem of talent could be compensated for in other ways. In his view, the best way to learn was through actual combat.
"A teaching aid?"
The first thing Professor Lupin thought of was Dementors.
But because of the Quidditch match, relations between the Dementors outside and the wizards had already frozen over. Lupin could hardly ask them to serve as practice partners.
"I happen to have a teaching aid right here."
As Dudley spoke, a white light flashed. A cold, eerie aura spread out, and a monster draped in a tattered cloak gradually appeared.
"Dementor!"
Lupin raised his wand and looked at the thing with extreme vigilance.
Dudley shook his head and said forcefully, "No. It is a Boggart."
Lupin froze. Thinking he might have misidentified it, he examined the creature carefully. It had none of a Boggart's traits at all. It was unmistakably a Dementor.
"Boggart!"
Dudley emphasized it again.
Hearing Dudley's confident answer, Lupin's confidence wavered, and he checked again. Based on his many years of experience dealing with Dark creatures, he could be certain.
Was this not obviously a Dementor?
Dudley answered for the third time, still with absolute certainty.
"It is a Boggart. A Boggart hit by a Confundus Charm and stuck in a Dementor shape."
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