Third years would have two new subjects — Care of Magical Creatures and Divination.
As Black struggled to close the Monster Book of Monsters, which was like a spidery beast, trying to bite his hands, Harry looked at his copy of Unfogging the Future, walking out of the bookshop.
Now he understood why Hagrid had sent the monstrous book to him for his birthday.
"... You didn’t buy that book?" Black asked, jumping on the book’s cover to shut the creature’s mouth. "You were staring at that for a long ti... What was its na..."
Harry rembered the book’s na that kept slithering in the back of his mind.
— Death Ons: What to Do When You Know the Worst Is Coming...
"... I didn’t want to buy it," Harry admitted after a sigh. "Actually... I need to tell you sothing..."
By the ti Harry finished telling Black why he had arrived at Leaky Cauldron, they had reached the Quality Quidditch Supplies, in front of which a sizable crowd had gathered.
"You did what?!" Black’s eyes widened.
"... I didn’t want to actually blow her up, you know," Harry cleared. "Anyway, just before I boarded the bus, I saw... a black dog..."
Black looked at him blankly. "... And?"
"... What and?"
"You saw a black dog..." Black repeated. "What happened next?"
And Harry suddenly rembered that, despite Black’s utterly ridiculous magical capabilities, he was a Muggle. "... According to the book, I think that was a death on..."
Black gave Harry the most recognizable look, almost calling him stupid. "I have seen black dogs all my life in the countryside... I am more interested in knowing how I didn’t read about an Aunt-balloon..."
Harry’s mouth twitched. "I am sure it’s related to Fudge," he said. "He was here to receive ..."
"Of course..." A chilling hiss ca from behind their backs. "Great Harry Potter... Even if he blows his aunt, the Minister himself would co to his rescue..."
The boys turned around and found Draco Malfoy, grinning at them.
Black threw the large book at him, and he and Harry had a good laugh as Draco fought for his life against it, ruining all his well-combed hair.
Closing the book after a while, Draco spat out fur, giving Black a disgusted look.
"Yeah..." Black nodded. "Now you look like the prick you are..."
Draco and Black looked at each other for a mont before breaking out with a grin, high-fiving each other.
"Nice one," Draco praised. "I bet you were thinking of it all the sumr... Anyway..." He faced Harry. "Just a heads-up, Totter. Father’s been going to the ministry to get you sacked... I don’t think anything will co out of it, though, given Sirius Black is out..."
Harry instantly frowned. "What do you an?"
Draco’s brows raised. "... Tell you are joking..." he said, looking surprised. "What hole were you living in so far?!"
"Nice!" Black praised, high-fiving Draco again.
"... been thinking of saying this to Potter ever since Black escaped," Malfoy added.
"Wait-Wait-Wait... Back up!" Harry looked at Draco, his heart thumping. "What’s going on?"
Draco scratched his head. "Ah, well, I don’t think anyone else will tell you..." He said, pulling Harry and Black to the side. "Sirius Black was close to your parents. He betrayed them in the end for Voldemort. He also killed one of your parents’ other friends... soone Peter Potty... I don’t know. Anyway, I heard Father and Mother talking about it... Father said that Sirius is ntal. That’s why he is still here... You know to..."
Draco looked at Harry and scratched a line on his throat.
Harry’s face paled, his heart booming against his chest now.
"... I think that’s enough for today’s serious topics, I guess," Black said, throwing his arm around Harry’s shoulders. "We have survived worse... A ntal wizard should be the last of our worries... Now, can we take a look at what’s the fuss behind us?"
Quidditch Quality Supplies was displaying the fastest broom ever produced.
— Firebolt!
Despite his heart being weighed down by Draco’s sudden, ominous reveal, Harry, along with Black and Draco, stared at the beautiful and powerful broom, dumbfounded.
"Hey! There you are!"
The boys looked over their shoulders and found Ron, who... joined them in the staring contest with the broom silently.
After a while, they sat down outside Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor to watch the crowd while eating ice cream, Harry filling in Ron on the Sirius Black matter.
"... I am more worried about Scabbers," Ron said, instantly making a joke out of Harry’s fears. "Last ti I saw him was before the holidays..."
Black casually ate his ice cream when he spied another group of students, elbowing Draco and Harry next to him to look in that direction.
It was Daphne, Hermione, Astoria, and Ginny.
Seeing the boys, Hermione changed direction and approached them.
A large bag was levitating behind her, and, in her arms, she was carrying what seed like a small tiger.
"Crookshanks," she introduced, petting the animal. "I adopted him. Isn’t he nice?"
"... I didn’t know that’s how snakes look after shedding their skin," Black comnted.
All the boys sniggered, ice cream shooting out of Draco and Ron’s mouths, Hermione’s face gaining a blush in front of them.
Daphne shook her head, Astoria and Ginny frowning next to her. Ginny would be starting her second year at Hogwarts, while Astoria would begin her schooling, hoping to beco a Slytherin after the Sorting Ceremony.
"... If Darcie were around, you wouldn’t be saying these an things so easily," Astoria said.
A silence washed over the boys and girls, suddenly.
"... Yeah?" Black grinned, making Harry, Ron, and Draco wince, knowing what was coming. "Where’s she, then? Buying more Magical Suitcases?"
"... You..." Astoria made a fist, but was held back by Daphne.
Throwing piercing stares, the girls marched away, Hermione and Daphne shaking their heads.
"... don’t hit ," Black said, looking at Draco from the corner of his eyes.
"Eh..." Draco scoffed. "Who cares... She’s with Madam Villanelle..."
"I bet that thing ate my rat," Ron said, changing the topic, despite it making no sense. "Did you look it in the eyes? Sothing’s wrong with it, I bet!"
Black was about to say sothing when his eyes landed on a shadow, hiding behind the corner leading to another alley.
"... You know what?" he said, getting up. "If Hermione got herself a cat, I am gonna get myself a dog..."
What?!
Just as the boys were going to ask what he ant, the soles of Black’s shoes glowed blue.
In one sweep, he beca a blur and crossed the entire breadth of the alley, reaching the shadowy corner, where...
... a dog was running in another direction.
With one more step, Black appeared in front of the dog, blocking its path.
"Well, hello," he said, grinning. "... What do you think of Hogwarts as your new ho?"
*****************
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