178: Chapter 178 The Moon Rises

"The Werewolf has come out!"

Pansy's voice caused the entire table to quiet down. She had just returned from the entrance to the girls' dormitory, clutching a new note passed on by the portrait; the paper was crumpled in her grip. No one in the Common Room was discussing homework anymore; even Flint had shut his mouth.

Draco snatched the note, and after reading the first line, he swore, "Did Lupin really transform in front of students? Can the school not manage people at all?"

Nott reached out and took back the note. "Beast roars heard outside the Shrieking Shack. A Black dog is fighting the Werewolf. Harry, Hermione, and Ron are fleeing from the direction of the shack. Ron is having trouble moving. Snape has yet to appear; he is suspected to be unconscious."

Zabini pushed the candy box to the center of the table but didn't open it. "After tonight, the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor position will be vacant again."

Draco gritted his teeth. "Is the Professor position the point?"

"The point is who will take the blame after they come back alive." Zabini looked at Allen. "The Werewolf takes a share, Black takes a share, and Snape takes a share for losing face. The real Peter is still in the cage."

Allen didn't respond. He had already spread out the topographical map of the Hogwarts lakeside, pressing three knuts in his hand onto the Whomping Willow, the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and the shallows of the Black Lake. Inside his Portable Space, the cracked pocket watch had been quiet for too long, which instead made him uneasy.

Seeing him not speak, Draco became even more annoyed. "What are you calculating again?"

"Harry will follow to the lakeside." Allen placed his blackthorn wand on the map. "The Dementors will be attracted by Black."

Pansy's expression tightened. "Dementors in the school?"

"Patrolling the perimeter; the lakeside is close enough."

Nott recorded quickly. "Lakeside risk: Dementors, Black, Harry. Hermione may accompany them; Ron will stay behind due to his foot injury."

"And the Werewolf." Draco added, "Don't leave out that Professor who bites people."

Zabini glanced at him. "You finally dare to say Lupin is dangerous."

"I never said he was safe." Draco sat down, his arm in a sling. "I just hate how Snape puts things so harshly."

Allen's fingertips pressed onto the coordinates of the Black Lake shallows. His Spatial Perception slid out from the old anchor point, crossing the Castle's stone walls, extending outward along with the night wind and damp air. From the distance came several disjointed fluctuations of magic—chaotic, hurried, with remnants of transformation like animal claw marks, as well as the traces of a failed Patronus Charm from Harry's wand.

Inside the Portable Space, the Void raised its head.

Peter, in the cage, pressed against the thin wall; he couldn't hear the specific sounds outside, but he could feel the magic from Black's direction pulling away. He slumped in the corner, his mouth sealed, his chest heaving rapidly.

Allen said in his consciousness, "He is not dead yet."

Peter closed his eyes, his forehead pressed against his knees, not daring to respond.

Nott asked in a low voice, "Can you sense the aftermath at the shack?"

"Black transformed into a Black dog to protect the students." Allen closed his eyes. "The Werewolf is chasing. The Black dog leads it away. Harry is following the Black dog toward the lakeside."

Draco slapped the table. "Why is he still chasing? Is The Chosen One's brain filled with nothing but Snitches?"

Pansy glanced at him. "You were worried about Weasley just a moment ago."

"I'm worried about people dying at school, not about Potter seeking death."

Zabini chuckled. "Such a subtle distinction."

Draco grabbed some candy, stuffed it into his mouth, and stopped talking.

Allen's perception continued forward. The chill by the lakeside grew heavier; the presence of the Dementors was like holes without temperature, approaching along the water's surface. They were attracted to Black, and they were also attracted to Harry. Harry's happy memories were too bright; in the eyes of these things, they were easier to find than a torch.

"The Dementors are moving." Allen opened his eyes. "There are more than ten."

Nott pressed his pen tip down hard. "Evidence of the Ministry of Magic losing control."

Pansy's face turned pale. "What about the students?"

"Harry is at the lakeside." Allen pushed the second knut over. "Hermione is following. Black has fallen."

Draco stood up abruptly. "You're not going to stop them?"

"If I stop them, I'll be exposed."

"Then Harry will die!"

"He won't."

"How can you be sure?"

Allen opened a sliver of his Portable Space. Beside the ebony box, the cracked pocket watch suddenly emitted a layer of blue light, flowing along the golden cracks. The light was brief, but it illuminated the Void's silver pupils.

Allen watched that trace of blue. "Because the time hasn't come yet."

Nott's pen stopped. "The pocket watch?"

"Yes."

Zabini closed the candy box. "This is more troublesome than the Dementors."

Draco didn't understand the Laws of Time, but he understood the miserable state Allen was in after touching the pocket watch. He immediately lowered his voice. "Don't touch it."

"I didn't touch it."

"You want to touch it."

"Shut up."

Draco almost jumped up. "You're telling me to shut up?"

Pansy held down his uninjured hand. "He is more rational than you right now."

"Every time he says he's rational, he ends up with a nosebleed!"

Allen didn't argue. He spread out a piece of blank parchment and wrote on it: Black Lake shallows, Dementors gathering, Harry's Patronus Charm failed, potential time intervention.

The pocket watch's blue light lit up again, stronger than before. The golden patterns on the edge of the Portable Space contracted gently, as if a thread on the north side was being pulled. The tip of the Void's tail pressed down on the ebony box lid, its snake body tensed.

Allen heard the sound of the watch hands.

Very light, one tick.

Draco heard it too. He was biting on a candy, his whole body stiffened. "What was that just now?"

"The pocket watch ticking." Nott answered for Allen, his voice much lower. "A reaction on the time side."

Zabini looked at Allen. "Is this the reason you saw two of yourself before?"

Allen circled the Black Lake on the map. "Possibly."

Pansy shooed away the lower-year students guarding the door. "If something happens to you, how are we supposed to explain it?"

"Say I fell asleep."

"Can you change your excuse?" Draco couldn't help but say. "The whole of Hogwarts is about to remember that you love to sleep."

"It works."

Zabini nodded. "Indeed. Even the Professors get annoyed hearing it and can't be bothered to pursue it."

Footsteps came from outside. A second-year Slytherin ran in, panting. "The Dean says everyone must return to the dormitories; there is abnormal Dementor movement outside the Castle! You are not allowed to go near the windows, and you are not allowed to go to the entrance hall!"

Draco stood up immediately. "Did you hear that? Everyone go back. Whoever wants to be kissed by a Dementor can stay."

Flint looked grim. "Malfoy, do you really consider yourself a prefect?"

"I consider myself someone who doesn't want to lose house points." Draco pointed toward the dormitory. "Go."

Pansy raised her hand as well. "Girls go back too. Whoever dares to make up stories about Black killing people tonight, I will give your name to Snape tomorrow morning."

A few students dispersed reluctantly. The Common Room slowly cleared out, leaving only Allen, Draco, Nott, Zabini, and Pansy at the table.

Allen closed his eyes again, his perception clinging to the lakeside. Harry's magic flickered under the encirclement of the Dementors; Hermione was nearby, and Black was offering almost no resistance. The Patronus Charm failed once, then twice. The chill fed back along the relay and was swallowed by the interdimensional layer on the outer surface of Allen's soul, leaving only blankness.

"The Dementors are going to kiss him." Nott watched Allen's expression, his voice lowered.

Draco's face turned completely pale. "Who?"

"Black." Allen answered. "Harry will be affected too."

Pansy cursed under her breath. "The Ministry of Magic is crazy."

Zabini said coldly. "They've always been like this. First, they release monsters to guard the door, then they blame students for encountering the monsters."

Allen didn't say anything more. A sliver of blue light suddenly burst from the gap in the ebony box; it didn't leave the Portable Space, but it illuminated the surrounding parchment in blue. The Void pressed down violently, and Peter in the cage was startled by the light and shrank into a corner.

The next moment, a powerful Patronus magic appeared by the lakeside.

Allen's perception was pushed back half an inch by the white light.

Draco looked at him. "What's wrong?"

"Someone is coming to the rescue."

"Who?"

Allen wrote a line on the parchment: Patronus, stag-shaped, opposite bank of the lake.

Nott frowned. "James Potter?"

"Harry will think so." Allen circled the writing. "The real source needs to wait for the time to fold back."

Pansy realized in an instant. "time-turner."

Hermione.

Everyone looked at the paper filled with coordinates.

Draco forgot to chew the candy in his mouth. "Granger is going back?"

"She will take Harry back." Allen wrote the Black Lake coordinates again. "To save Buckbeak, to save Black, to save the result she saw."

Zabini placed his hand on the candy box but didn't open it. "This is what you called the time intervention node."

Allen nodded. He reached out to pick up the record paper for the cracked pocket watch; he didn't touch the ebony box, just wrote a new title.

Time intervention node, tonight.

The pocket watch's blue light lit up for the third time, the light harder than the previous two times, as if invisible watch hands were sweeping across the edge of the space. The smell of blood rose in Allen's nostrils; he pressed down on the parchment, forcing his hand not to shake.

Draco saw it. "You're bleeding?"

"A little."

"You call that a little?" Draco pulled out a handkerchief and threw it over. "Don't get the table dirty."

Allen caught it and pressed it under his nose. "Thanks."

"I'm not concerned about you."

"Mm."

Pansy rolled her eyes. "Can you two not act like this while Dementors are surrounding the lake?"

Nott continued writing. "The Black Lake incident triggered the pocket watch reaction. It is speculated that Hermione's use of the time-turner will form a folding seam. Allen needs to stay away from direct contact."

Allen looked at "stay away" on the paper and didn't respond.

Zabini stopped sharply. "You don't intend to stay away."

Allen put away the map. "I want to see how it folds."

Draco stood up. "No."

Allen lifted his eyes. "Sit down."

"I won't sit." Draco braced himself against the table. "Last time you touched the pocket watch, you almost slept yourself into a corpse. Now, with the Werewolf, Dementors, Black, and Snape all in chaos outside, you still want to reach into the time seam?"

Allen folded the blood-stained handkerchief. "It's precisely because it's chaotic that the seam will open."

Draco was speechless for a moment.

Pansy was silent for a few seconds. "If you really want to watch, we'll guard you. You cannot enter the space alone."

"Fine."

Zabini sighed. "Every time I hear you say 'fine,' I feel like someone is going to be unlucky."

Nott looked up. "Usually it's Allen himself."

The cracked pocket watch clicked softly inside the ebony box.

Allen looked at the Black Lake coordinates, blue light reflecting in his eyes. "Tonight, the unlucky one isn't just me."