175: Chapter 175 Ron's Ankle

"Ron has been dragged away."

When Nott rushed into the Slytherin Common Room, Draco had just spread out his Potion essay.

His quill rolled onto the floor, and his face turned pale in an instant.

"Who dragged him?"

"A Black dog."

Nott's breathing was much more ragged than usual; he slapped the parchment onto Allen's desk.

"Fourth floor corridor, near the one-eyed Witch statue.

The Black dog suddenly lunged out, bit Weasley's ankle, and dragged him into the secret passage behind the portrait.

Harry and Granger chased after them."

The Common Room instantly erupted.

A few lower-year students stood up, Pansy's chair knocked against a table leg, and Flint looked up from by the fireplace, but just as he was about to speak, he was roared back by Draco.

"No one is to leave!"

Draco's shout suppressed half the Common Room.

With his arm in a sling, his face lacked its usual boastfulness, showing only the anger forced out of him.

"The Dean said we're grounded.

Anyone who wants to lose points for Slytherin, go to the door and report your name now."

Flint's face looked ugly. "Malfoy, what right do you have..."

"The right that you almost dragged the whole Common Room into detention last time."

Draco pointed at him. "Sit down."

Zabini leaned against Allen's side, the candy box unopened. "He's grown up."

Allen didn't look at them; his fingers were already pressing down on Nott's note. "Details."

Nott spoke quickly. "The news comes from a knight portrait on the fourth floor and a second-year Ravenclaw.

Ron screamed, Harry chased first, and Hermione followed.

Crookshanks also appeared; he might be leading the way ahead.

The passage behind the one-eyed Witch statue was opened, heading towards Hogsmeade."

Draco turned his head. "Crookshanks is leading the way? Granger's cat is helping Black?"

"The cat knows Black is an Animagus."

Allen stood up. "It also wants to find Peter."

Pansy walked closer. "Where are the Professors?"

"McGonagall is doing a headcount in Gryffindor Tower.

Snape just left the Dungeon corridor; he might not have received the news yet.

Lupin's whereabouts are unknown."

Zabini added, "The full moon is approaching; if he gets involved, the risk will be higher."

Allen spread out the old map, his finger tracing a line from the fourth-floor one-eyed Witch all the way to Hogsmeade.

"Route confirmed. One-eyed Witch, Honeydukes cellar, Hogsmeade, Shrieking Shack."

Draco blurted out, "Will they die?"

Quite a few people in the Common Room heard this.

The way several Slytherins looked at Draco changed immediately.

Draco realized he had asked too anxiously; his face flushed, and he hastily added,

"I mean, dead people will implicate the whole school."

Allen didn't expose him. "Black won't kill Ron."

"He bit his ankle and dragged him!"

"He wants the rat."

Draco looked at Allen's cuff, his voice lowering. "But the real one is with you."

"So the probability of Ron surviving is higher."

Nott wrote on the side, "Before Black confirms that the fake Scabbers is abnormal, he will interrogate Ron first.

Harry and Hermione will arrive at the Shrieking Shack.

If Lupin arrives, the truth of the old case might be exposed prematurely."

Pansy frowned. "Without Peter, how can it be exposed?"

Allen opened a sliver of the Portable Space entrance.

Inside the cage, Peter had completely lost control, pressing his whole body against the thin wall, his mouth sealed, his forehead covered in sweat.

The Void coiled outside the cage, silver eyes fixed on him, its tail tip pressing against the cage's runic lines to prevent his emotions from leaking back out.

"He will show fear."

Allen closed the entrance. "But since he's not there, there's insufficient evidence."

Zabini said, "After Black discovers that Scabbers is a fake rat, he will suspect that someone took Peter first."

Draco grabbed the edge of the table. "And then who will he suspect?"

Nott answered for him, "Ron, Harry, Hermione, Lupin, Dumbledore, Snape.

Only then might he think of Allen, because Allen and Ron have no public interaction."

Zabini added, "Unless Crookshanks smells the Portable Space entrance."

Pansy looked at Allen. "The cat is already involved."

Allen turned the map to the Hogsmeade area and marked the location of the Shrieking Shack.

"Crookshanks doesn't know me, only the residue.

It's been too long since the Christmas swap; the traces on the fake Scabbers have been muddled by Ron's pocket, dormitory, and classroom.

It can confirm it's a fake, but it might not be able to confirm it's me."

Draco listened irritably. "Every time you say 'might not,' it ends up being 'definitely.'"

"That's why I'm preparing a second route."

Allen took out three knuts and pressed them onto the map respectively.

The first one landed on the one-eyed Witch, the second on Honeydukes, and the third on the edge of the Shrieking Shack.

He didn't connect them directly, just let the golden threads of the Portable Space glide along the paper's surface, simulating the route.

Nott's quill tip followed the movement. "We aren't going?"

"No."

Draco looked up abruptly. "You're not going?"

"If we go now, we'll run into Harry, Hermione, Black, and possibly Lupin."

Allen moved the third knut half an inch away. "The stage hasn't been set yet."

Pansy lowered her voice. "Ron is inside."

"Black won't kill him. If Lupin arrives, he'll ask questions first.

Harry will stop them from acting directly. Hermione will look for logical loopholes."

Zabini looked at the map. "And Snape will follow."

Allen nodded. "He's been watching Lupin. If Lupin leaves his office, Snape will follow."

Draco's face went even paler. "A Werewolf, a Black dog, Harry, Granger, Weasley, Snape—all in the Shrieking Shack?"

"Peter is still missing."

Inside the Portable Space, the sound of Peter hitting the cage came through the thin wall.

No one in the Common Room could hear it, only the Black scale shadow at Allen's cuff moved slightly.

Draco understood, his voice tight. "You aren't actually going to send Peter over there, are you?"

Allen retrieved the knuts. "Not now."

"Then when?"

"After Black discovers that Scabbers is a fake."

Nott looked up. "He will come looking for the real Peter."

"Correct."

Pansy bit her lower lip. "How will he come looking for you?"

"He doesn't need to look for me at the start."

Allen looked toward the entrance of the Common Room. "He only needs to start suspecting that someone intercepted him.

Then he will investigate when Ron's rat changed, who approached the Gryffindor dormitory, and who reacted abnormally to Peter's old case."

Zabini pushed the candy box away. "The risk from Christmas Eve."

"It's been diluted by time, but the direction can be traced."

Draco became anxious. "You're still this calm?"

Allen looked at him. "Will being anxious get Ron's ankle back from the dog's mouth?"

Draco was stumped. He paced twice, stopped in front of the fireplace, and finally spoke after a long while,

"I hate Weasley. But I also hate Black dragging people around the school."

"You hate losing control," Zabini said.

Draco didn't refute it.

Nott suddenly received a second note, which had slid in from under the crack of the Common Room door.

It only had a few hurried lines on it.

"Knight portrait update," Nott read quickly,

"After Harry and Hermione entered the passage, the portrait heard the sound of collapsing dust in the distance.

Filch found bloodstains on the fourth floor, a small amount.

McGonagall has learned of Ron's disappearance, and Snape is missing.

Lupin's office is empty."

There was a collective gasp in the Common Room.

Flint stood up, only to be glared back down by Draco.

Allen took the note. "Snape is chasing Lupin. Lupin is chasing Harry. Black is dragging Ron. Crookshanks is leading the way. The whole line is entering the Shrieking Shack."

Pansy asked, "What about Dumbledore?"

"The Principal won't arrive at the first moment."

Allen burned the note. "He will wait for evidence, or be delayed by the news."

Draco cursed under his breath. "This school is doomed sooner or later."

"It's not over yet."

Allen folded the map into a small piece and put it into his sleeve. "Because Peter is still in my hands."

This sentence made the few people around quiet down.

The living evidence that could truly overturn Black's old case was being locked away by Allen in the Portable Space.

Everyone outside was chasing a fake rat, a Black dog was biting Ron, Professors were suspicious of each other, Dementors were guarding outside the school, and the Ministry of Magic was waiting to make arrests.

And the bargaining chip was beside a table in the Dungeon.

Zabini lightly tapped the candy box. "The strong and weak have swapped positions."

Nott wrote, "Black thinks he is the hunter, but in reality, the target has already been moved.

Allen holds Peter and decides when the truth will be revealed."

Draco looked at Allen. "You've been waiting for him to come all along?"

"Since Christmas Eve."

Draco wanted to curse, but couldn't find the words.

He finally sat back in his chair, grabbed his ink-stained essay, and said, "I can't believe I was actually worried about Ron."

Pansy glanced at him sideways. "You were very obvious just now."

"Shut up."

"I'll tell Zabini."

"He's already laughing!"

Zabini handed the candy box over. "Have some candy, Malfoy. You acted like a human today."

Draco didn't know whether to take it or not, and finally grabbed one fiercely.

Allen didn't join them.

He reached his hand into his cuff, his fingertips touching the edge of the Portable Space entrance.

The Void sensed his movement, its tail tip moving half an inch away from Peter's cage.

Peter inside the cage looked up, his eyes full of pleading.

"You can't speak now."

Allen spoke in his consciousness. "Every name you say, it's not the right time yet."

Peter shook his head desperately, as if wanting to shake Black, Lupin, Harry, and the Shrieking Shack all out of his mind.

Allen looked at him. "He is coming. You had better survive until the moment he truly sees you."

The Void's tail tip pressed down again, and the sound inside the cage was completely sealed off.

The third note was delivered half an hour later.

Nott opened it, took one look, and his face sank.

"There's a magical explosion in the direction of the Shrieking Shack. Suspected Expelliarmus and binding spells. Snape has entered the passage."

Draco stood up. "What now?"

Allen pulled the Third Floor corridor map out of the file folder, then pressed it back in.

The cracked pocket watch chimed lightly in the ebony box, and a blue light moved one notch along the golden cracks.

"Now, we wait."

"Wait for what?"

"Wait for Black to discover that the one he risked his life to drag away is just an ordinary rat."

Outside the Common Room, the lake water lapped against the stone walls, and the chill crept in through the cracks.

Dementors wandered outside the Castle, Professors rushed toward the Hogsmeade secret passage, Gryffindor lost a student, and Slytherin was forced into confinement.

Allen touched the Portable Space entrance at his cuff, his voice low enough that only Draco and a few others could hear.

"Come and find it."