158: Chapter 158 Black Dog's Target

"The Fat Lady was slashed?" Draco stood up the moment he sat down. "Sirius Black really got into the Castle? How did he get past the Dementors and the portraits?"

The Slytherin Common Room was noisier than usual after breakfast. News of the attack on Gryffindor Tower spread fast: The Fat Lady's portrait slashed, Harry moved, Professors patrolling all night. Everyone was talking about Black, and everyone spoke as if they had seen it with their own eyes.

Nott placed a small piece of paper on the table: "Gryffindor entrance. Portrait damaged, password incorrect. The Fat Lady fled to another painting, claiming Black used a knife to force her to open the door."

Draco sneered: "A knife? A Wizard using a knife to slash a painting? That sounds like a story the Ministry of Magic writes for children."

Zabini leaned back in his chair: "Madmen don't care about decorum. Black has been in Azkaban for twelve years; I wouldn't be surprised if he knocked on the door with a fork."

Pansy squeezed over from the side: "Everyone outside is saying he wants to kill Potter. Gryffindor slept in the Great Hall last night, and Professor McGonagall stood guard until dawn."

Draco immediately looked at Allen: "You said the newspaper was writing about Harry a long time ago. What about now? Is he really the target?"

Allen sat by the fireplace, turning a knut in his hands. The temperature in the Dungeon was more stable than in previous days, and the lower-year students thought Snape had added magic. Only Draco and the others knew that the space rift behind the fireplace was still venting intermittently.

"Did he look for the dormitory?" Allen asked.

Nott nodded: "He didn't enter the dormitory. The Fat Lady didn't open the door. He only left scratches at the entrance."

"Then he isn't in a rush to kill Harry." Allen put down the knut. "A murderer would look for the person; forcing a portrait to open a door is looking for a path."

Draco frowned: "Isn't looking for a path the same as looking for Potter?"

"It could also be looking for an old object." Zabini added, "Besides Potter, there are members of the Weasley family in Gryffindor Tower."

Nott tapped his book with his fingertip: "And that rat."

Draco's expression froze. Once he realized, his voice dropped very low: "Scabbers is fake."

Pansy didn't understand the first half, but she could tell it wasn't for public knowledge and immediately glanced around. A few lower-year students were discussing whether Black would crawl out of the fireplace, and no one was paying attention to them.

Allen tucked the note into the pages of a book: "Nott, spell traces."

Nott handed over a second note: "I had a seventh-year Ravenclaw help check the repair records near the portrait. There were wand residues in the scratches, covered by the knife marks on the outer layer. The magic waveform is similar to the edge spell marks at a certain explosion scene recorded by the Ministry of Magic twelve years ago."

Draco's face changed: "Twelve years ago?"

Zabini pushed the candy box away: "The day Black was caught."

Nott nodded: "In the public record, Peter was blown up, the Muggle street was destroyed, and Black was arrested while laughing. The main waveform of the explosion spell marks was attributed to Black. The residue near the portrait last night matches the edges of the records, but the intensity is very low, like a habitual opening spell."

Pansy felt a chill: "So he really is in the school?"

"He got in." Allen folded the note. "But he didn't get his target."

Draco lowered his voice: "Is the target Peter?"

Allen didn't answer immediately. He closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into his Portable Space. Beside the ebony box, the Void raised its head. The fourth layer of thin space wall outside Peter's cage had already formed, isolating the chill and suppressing the fear back inside.

Allen lifted the silence on Peter for five seconds.

Peter gasped first, then squeezed out a word: "Sirius Black."

The tip of the Void's tail tapped down, and the seal closed. Peter's face was pressed against the inner wall of the cage, his eyes full of begging. He wanted to say more, but no sound came out.

Allen opened his eyes.

Draco was waiting for him. Nott's pencil stopped. Zabini didn't even take any candy.

"Black's target is Peter." Allen spoke. "Peter is with me."

Pansy reacted first, her fingers gripping the back of the chair: "Then Black will keep looking in the wrong place."

Draco's face grew uglier by the second: "He will go look for Ron."

"He's already found the entrance." Nott added, "The next step will be to find an opportunity to approach the Gryffindor dormitory, or look for all places around Harry where a rat might be hidden."

Zabini looked at Allen: "Is the fake Scabbers still with Ron?"

"Yes."

Draco grew anxious immediately: "Will that fake rat be exposed? Black will know something is wrong at a glance."

"He has to see it first." Allen tucked the knut back into his sleeve. "Gryffindor will be protected. Dementors will guard the door. Professors will patrol. The more anxious he is, the harder it will be to get close."

Draco gripped the back of the chair: "What if he really kills Potter?"

Allen looked at him: "He won't kill Harry first."

"How can you be sure?"

"He's endured for twelve years." Allen's voice was low. "If he really wanted to kill Harry, he would have gone directly to find him last night. Slashing the portrait means he lacks the password, lacks the route, and lacks confirmation. He is looking for a little something."

Nott wrote "Target loss leads to behavioral deviation" on the paper, then stopped: "Do we need to guide him?"

"Not yet." Allen looked at him. "The less Black finds, the more his route will be exposed. We just record, we don't make contact."

Zabini frowned: "The Ministry of Magic will place the Dementors closer. After what happened last night, Fudge needs to give an explanation."

"So we stay away from the entrance hall." Allen opened his book. "Draco, you can curse Black publicly. Don't say he's stupid, don't say he's looking for the wrong person."

Draco gritted his teeth: "I still have to keep his secret?"

"You are saving your own life." Allen looked up. "Your mother is from the Black family. If you say the wrong thing, you will be remembered by both sides."

Draco had nothing to say. Narcissa's name suppressed his temper, and also suppressed his curiosity about the old case. The Malfoy Family couldn't afford to have the old Black case reopened now.

Pansy suddenly spoke: "Will Gryffindor suspect that Slytherin is helping Black?"

Zabini scoffed: "Do they need a reason to suspect us?"

Nott put away the paper: "People are already saying Black was let in by a Slytherin. Hufflepuff lower-years are spreading rumors that Slytherin knows the secret passages."

Draco was furious: "Last year they said Potter was the Heir of Slytherin, this year they say we let Black in. Is their brain full of pumpkin juice?"

Allen looked at the Common Room entrance. A few older students were gathered together, their voices getting louder. Flint, punished with detention, was using the Black topic to scare the lower-years.

"Ignore them." Allen said. "Let Snape handle it."

As soon as he finished speaking, the entrance opened and Snape walked in. Flint's voice stuck in his throat. Snape didn't look at anyone, walking straight to the bulletin board to pin up a new patrol notice.

"All students, do not leave the Dungeon after dinner." Snape's voice suppressed the entire Common Room. "Any stupid rumors about Black, Dementors, or Gryffindor Tower, once verified, will result in detention."

Flint lowered his head. Draco, watching from the side, felt satisfied but refrained from making a sound.

After Snape pinned the notice, his gaze lingered on Allen for a moment: "Mr. Potter, after tomorrow's Defense Against the Dark Arts class, bring your essay on Dementor environmental insulation to my office."

Allen nodded: "Yes, Professor."

Snape turned and left, his Black robes stirring up a damp, cold wind. After the door closed, the discussion in the Common Room quieted by more than half.

Draco whispered: "He must also feel that Black's target is wrong."

"Snape knows about the old case." Nott closed his book. "But he doesn't know Peter is alive."

Zabini looked at Allen: "What about Dumbledore?"

Allen flattened the page: "He has no evidence either."

Pansy frowned: "What if Dumbledore guesses that Peter isn't dead?"

"He will look for the rat first." Allen said. "The fake rat with Ron can last for a while. When it can't hold on, Black will create new movements for us."

Draco listened to this, his back feeling cold: "You're using Black as a dog leash?"

"He's running with the line in his mouth." Allen closed his eyes. "I'm just not pulling it."

In the Portable Space, Peter was shaking his head frantically in the cage. The Void's silver eyes stared at him, its tail tip pressing on the name "Sirius Black." Peter's fear was pressed back into his body by the fourth layer of thin wall, and every tremor hit the inside of the cage.

Allen added to his file: Black's first entry into the Castle, target not contacted. Target confirmed as Peter. Peter's location is safe. Risk of fake Scabbers rising. Lupin may intervene in the old case line.

When he wrote "Lupin", the cracked pocket watch rang softly.

Allen's fingers stopped. Lupin would see the fear of every student in class. If the Boggart faced him, the result was unknown. The soul interlayer could block Legilimency, and it could also block Dementors, but the Boggart might read superficial fear, which might not be the same path.

"Tomorrow is Defense Against the Dark Arts." He opened his eyes. "Don't say anything."

Draco was puzzled: "What's wrong again?"

"Boggart class." Nott answered for him. "It will be a problem when it's Allen's turn."

Zabini thought for a moment: "If it turns into a bed, that would be reasonable."

Draco glared at him: "You're joking at a time like this?"

"I'm reducing stress." Zabini spread his hands. "Can't expect Dementors to tell jokes."

Allen closed his book and got up to head to the dormitory. Draco chased after him for two steps: "Are you really not preparing?"

"I've prepared."

"Prepared what?"

"A good sleep."

Draco watched his back, finally squeezing out a sentence: "I'll be angered to death by you sooner or later."

Nott added a line in the back: Allen, suspected of being under-prepared. Reality unknown.

Zabini caught a glimpse of the line and whispered: "You're writing more and more like Dumbledore."

Nott closed his book: "Don't insult my archives."

The Dungeon was quiet again. Above the Castle, The Fat Lady's sobbing continued to spread among the paintings. Gryffindor students were crowded in the Great Hall, Professors were patrolling more heavily, and Dementors were wandering outside the door.

In the Portable Space, Peter pressed against the inner wall of the cage, silently shouting the same name.

Sirius Black.