174: Chapter 174 Black Dog Enters the Castle

"Something came in through a first-floor window."

As Nott finished his sentence, the quill in Draco's hand snapped in two.

Ink splattered onto his Potion essay; he glanced at it, his expression even worse than the essay itself.

"Can you change your opening line?" Draco said in a hushed voice. "Like 'good morning,' or 'nobody died today.'"

Zabini snapped the candy box shut. "It would be strange if nobody died."

Nott ignored the joke. He placed a narrow slip of paper in front of Allen. The edges of the paper bore the blue wax marks commonly used by portraits. "From the portrait gallery. At two-forty in the morning, a window on the west side of the first floor was opened from the outside. A Silencing Charm was used, and the lock wasn't broken. Filch found wet paw prints on the stone floor, and the area has been sealed off."

Allen put down his pen. "The direction of the paw prints?"

"From under the window to the old storage room. Then they cut off."

Draco stood up. "Black got in?"

"Sit down." Allen flattened the slip of paper. "Finish."

Nott continued, "Filch called Snape. Snape inspected the window lock and determined that whoever opened the window possessed the magic of an adult Wizard. After McGonagall arrived, she instructed the portraits to keep an eye out for a large dog, large animals, or a strange man. The Dementors haven't entered the Castle; they're only patrolling the exterior."

Zabini said in a low voice, "The Dementors didn't stop him."

"An Animagus can evade detection." Allen stood up and pulled an old floor plan of Hogwarts from the bookshelf. "There are four possible routes on the west side of the first floor: the Entrance Hall, the corridor outside the Trophy Room, the old storage room, and the old pipes next to the Dungeon."

Draco looked at the map. "Where do the old pipes lead?"

"They lead to the mezzanine near the kitchens, then down to the corridor outside the Dungeon. They've been abandoned for a long time; students don't use them, but rats do."

Draco's expression changed. "Rats."

Zabini looked at Allen's cuff. "Peter."

Allen didn't answer. He pressed a knut onto the west side of the first floor on the map and tapped it lightly with his fingertip. Inside his Portable Space, Void lifted its head, its silver slit pupils fixed on a newly emerged thin line to the north. A golden thread extended from the edge of the space, tracing the residual magical traces along the stone walls of Hogwarts, slowly pulling toward the old storage room.

A thumping sound came from Peter's cage. He had been silenced and couldn't call out, but he could hear words related to Black.

Draco stared at Allen's hand. "Are you connecting to the Castle?"

"Just borrowing previous anchor points."

Nott's pen stopped. "The risk?"

"Low. The adult Wizard magic Black left behind hasn't dissipated yet."

Allen closed his eyes, his perception sliding along the golden thread. The old storage room was piled with broken chairs, damaged broomsticks, moldy trunks, and dust that had been disturbed by Filch. The paw prints faded at the doorway, indicating that the Black dog had lingered there. Under the floor tiles in the corner was an old pipe cover, with fresh scratches on the edges.

The residual magic of an adult Wizard was faint, carrying the rough edges of an Animagus transformation. Comparing it with the residue from the Black explosion case in the newspaper clippings from the summer, it was a match.

Allen opened his eyes. "Confirmed. It's Black."

Draco grabbed the back of the chair. "He got into the Castle and no one has caught him yet?"

"He is familiar with the Castle," Nott said in a low voice. "The rumors about the Marauder's Map might be true. That generation of Black and Potter knew many secret passages."

Draco looked at Allen. "Just how much trouble has your Potter Family left for Hogwarts?"

Allen turned the map toward him. "James Potter left it; it has nothing to do with me."

Zabini said, "But now the dog is looking for the rat you're keeping."

Draco paced back and forth irritably. "Don't use the word 'keeping.' It sounds even more disgusting."

Footsteps sounded outside the door. Pansy pushed the door open, holding two books in her arms, with the irritation of having been woken up on her face. "It's spread to the girls' side too. Filch said a Black dog snuck into the Castle, and two first-years are crying from fear. Flint is taking the opportunity to say that Gryffindor can't protect The Chosen One, and that Black will eventually bite his way into the tower."

"Let him keep talking." Allen marked the storage room on the map. "The more he runs his mouth, the more the Professors will be annoyed by him."

Pansy sat down. "Professor McGonagall has already warned Gryffindor not to travel alone. Percy is counting heads in the corridor, and the little girl from the Weasley Family looks deathly pale."

"Ginny?"

"Yeah. Ever since she heard Black got into the Castle, her hands haven't stopped shaking."

Draco frowned. "She still hasn't recovered from last year?"

"She nearly died in the Chamber of Secrets; of course she hasn't recovered." Zabini unusually didn't make a sarcastic remark.

Allen drew a second line on the map, from the old storage room to the old pipes next to the Dungeon. "Black's target is still Scabbers, who is with Ron. He entered the first floor first, which means he didn't get the new password for the Gryffindor entrance, or he didn't want to force his way through the portrait again."

Nott added, "After The Fat Lady incident, the Gryffindor guards are stricter. Ron takes Scabbers to class during the day and returns to the tower at night. Black needs to intercept him."

Draco paused. "Will he grab Ron?"

"Possibly." Allen looked toward the fourth floor on the map. "If the Black dog can't get into the tower, he will strike in the corridor and drag his target toward a secret passage."

Pansy's expression tightened. "Hogwarts allows Dementors to guard the outside, yet a Black dog still got in. If something happens to a student, who will the Ministry of Magic blame?"

"Dumbledore, McGonagall, Lupin, Snape." Zabini counted them off one by one. "And Gryffindor itself."

Nott wrote in his notebook. "How is Lupin reacting?"

Pansy shook her head. "Haven't seen him. He doesn't have classes this morning; he might be in his office."

Draco immediately jumped in. "The full moon?"

Nott flipped through the calendar. "There are still a few days until the full moon. He can act."

Allen circled Black's route. "Lupin will investigate. Snape will investigate too. We won't touch the scene, we won't provide information, and we won't go near the storage room."

Draco was unconvinced. "But we could..."

"Could what?" Allen interrupted. "Tell the Professors that the Black dog is Black, that the rat Black is looking for is Peter, and that Peter is in my Portable Space?"

Draco shut his mouth.

Zabini pushed the candy box toward him. "Eat some candy."

Draco didn't take it. "I hate how you guys use the truth to shut me up every time."

"The truth is useful," Nott said.

Allen took out another piece of parchment and began drawing the area around the storage room. "Filch will seal off the west side of the first floor, and students will have to detour. If Black is still inside the Castle, next time he will use the old pipes to move upward, avoiding the portraits and the Professors."

"The exit of the old pipes?" Nott asked.

"The first-floor storage room, the mezzanine next to the Dungeon, the old waterway near the abandoned second-floor bathroom, and the branch line related to the secret passage behind the One-Eyed Witch statue on the fourth floor."

Draco looked up. "The One-Eyed Witch?"

"It leads to the cellar of Honeydukes in Hogsmeade. Harry will use it sooner or later."

Pansy stared at the map. "Will Black use it too?"

"He will look for every path that can avoid the Dementors."

Nott's pen tip stopped at the fourth-floor location. "If he drags Ron toward the One-Eyed Witch, Harry will definitely chase."

"Hermione will too," Zabini said. "She has a time-turner, making her movements even harder to track."

Allen glanced at his Portable Space. The cracked pocket watch lay quietly in the ebony box; the golden cracks were not glowing. But he remembered the image of two of himself in the Third Floor corridor. Black entering the Castle, Hermione's time, Peter's cage—they were all pushing toward the same point.

Hurried footsteps sounded outside the door again. A younger Slytherin student knocked. "Malfoy, the Dean wants every dormitory to take a headcount tonight. No one is allowed to leave the Dungeon."

Draco stood up, his arm in a sling. "I'll go handle it."

Allen held down the map. "Don't mention Black's route."

"I'm not stupid."

Zabini looked up. "The records don't support that."

Draco slammed the door behind him as he left.

Pansy looked at Allen. "He's been much more obedient lately."

"Because it hurts," Allen said, looking down to draw lines. "A fracture has an educational effect."

Nott clipped the portrait slip into the file. "Black has entered the Castle. Route: first-floor west window, old storage room, old pipes next to the Dungeon. The objective still points to Ron and the fake Scabbers."

Zabini asked, "Peter's reaction?"

Allen opened a narrow slit in his Portable Space. Inside the cage, Peter was curled into a ball, clutching his head, his mouth sealed by the space, but his eyes were fixed on the direction of the map outside. Void was coiled outside the cage, the tip of its tail tapping the ground rhythmically.

"Alive," Allen said, closing the entrance. "Still useful."

Pansy said in a low voice, "If Black can't find the real Peter, will he go crazy?"

"He's already almost crazy."

Nott looked up. "The more realistic the fake Scabbers is, the longer it will take for Black to realize. But Crookshanks will ruin that."

"So keep an eye on the cat." Allen drew the potential end point of the paw prints on the fourth floor of the map. "The Black dog is in, the cat will chase the dog, the dog will chase the rat, and the rat is in my hands."

Zabini snapped the candy box shut. "Sounds like a fable for lower-year students."

"Usually someone gets bitten at the end," Pansy said.

Draco returned shortly, his face even sourer than when he left. "The Dean also told me to tell you, Potter, to submit the Dementor report and the Insulation essay together tomorrow. Also, no pretending to be asleep to disappear tonight."

Allen folded the map. "Mhm."

Draco saw a corner of the map. "What did you draw again?"

"A dog hole."

"Can you use a normal term?"

"Black's route into the Castle."

Draco sat down and was silent for a few seconds. "Will he really come to the Dungeon?"

"If he thinks the rat is with Ron, no."

"What if he finds out Scabbers is a fake?"

Allen put the parchment away into his space. "Then he will look for the real one."

Inside the Portable Space, Peter's cage shook violently.

Void raised its tail and pressed it down on the top of the cage.

Allen said in a low voice, "Let him look."