Two days are left before the start of the second half of the semester, and the vast majority of faculty and staff have already returned to their positions, beginning some preparatory work for teaching. Meanwhile, the young wizards who went home for Christmas have also returned to school in scattered numbers, gradually making the castle, which has been quiet for two weeks, lively again.
Amorta and Remus also returned to the school on the second day of the semester.
Sirius temporarily placed Regulus' body in the family manor, commanding Kreacher to care for Regulus properly, and then returned to Hogwarts again, this time accompanying Remus in the form of Lupin.
Perhaps the pleasant Christmas holidays had made the young wizards lazy. It was supposed to be breakfast time, but the Great Hall was empty, with not a single student in sight. Only Professor Sprout, who was accustomed to waking up early, and Mrs. Pince were idly chatting at the staff dining table.
"This scene is really not common in recent years--"
When Amorta and Remus, who entered the castle together from the foyer, wished their colleagues a happy new year at a distance, Professor Sprout, whose witch's hat was covered in mud, happily smiled and said.
"I mean, it's rare to see both Defense Against the Dark Arts professors appear at the same time."
"The special person probably isn't me, Pomona --"
Remus, who has been smiling more frequently recently, laughed heartily and looked at Amorta.
"Seriously, Amorta, I've been thinking lately that you must really have some secret for staying in this professorship for so long; I quite like the job myself."
"It's best to leave early –"
Amorta shrugged, smiling faintly,
"If I had really continued, I might have ended up with the same fate as my predecessor."
"Your predecessor was Gilderoy Lockhart, the swindler. He deserved to be sent to Azkaban, but you won't end up like him."
Thinking of Gilderoy Lockhart, Professor Sprout shook her head as if to shoo away bothersome flies.
After a few exchanges of pleasantries, Amorta and Remus went up to the floor directly.
As they both needed to prepare for teaching in the second half of the year, Lupin went back to his office by himself while Lenny followed Amorta further. After they reached the student safety office, Amorta changed Lenny back into a human form.
The morning passed by in idle chatter, with Amorta continuing to study the stack of manuscripts related to the blood-curse while discussing various details about sneaking into Azkaban with Sirius.
"At least we need a boat."
Sirius sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, saying.
"Since you're unwilling to enter Azkaban through official channels, and I can only sense the general direction, it means we might be adrift at sea for a long time. You'll need a ship that's strong enough, Amorta. For some reason, the sea around the island is constantly shrouded in thunderstorms and typhoons all year round; that's a natural barrier. Without adequate preparation, there's no way to get through it."
"Then how did you get here?"
Amorta paused her calculations, looked up with interest and asked.
"I was in my Animagus form back then; thunderstorms and typhoons didn't affect me as much."
As they reminisced about their sea journey, Sirius expressed his relief that they had survived.
"And my luck was good; I accidentally found a large piece of the deck that had been shattered by the waves. I guessed it was left behind by a Muggle ship that had veered off course. Gosh, unlucky guys."
Amorta nodded slightly.
Indeed, Sirius' situation must be taken into account.
The prison is located far out at sea, away from the mainland. If Muggles lose their ships, they have only one way to die. While witches and wizards have more options, most ordinary witches and wizards may also have no choice but to give up in the face of such a harsh environment.
If an extreme situation arises, Amorta could indeed transport Sirius back to the mainland with the Patronus charm. However, if she did that, the magic required for such a long-range Patronus would be secondary; the key issue is that all the previous lengthy search would have been for nothing.
"I'll consider it carefully."
After a moment's thought, Amorta said, just before looking away from the surveillance feed opposite him, he glanced casually at the screen, and the relaxed lines of his brow suddenly wrinkled slightly.
Near the Slytherin common room, Professor Snape was standing at his office door and conversing with a wizard with loose golden hair.
Following Amorta's gaze, Sirius also noticed the wizard who shouldn't be appearing at Hogwarts.
"Who is that? A professor from the school?"
"That's Lucius Malfoy, the current head of the Malfoy family..."
Amorta said evenly.
"Oh!"
Sirius' exclamation was filled with hatred.
"That's him, I know him. He's a Death Eater who publicly advocated for Lord Voldemort's ideology during his school years. After graduation, he gained Voldemort's favor because of his unwavering support for the pure-blood superiority ideology. During Voldemort's reign, there were many incidents involving muggle suffering and murders that were indirectly linked to him. But he was very cunning and skilled in using money to his advantage. That's why the Order could never find any solid evidence against him. What is he doing here? Meeting with an old colleague for nostalgia?"
The last sentence came out naturally from Sirius, and only after the words were spoken did he realize what he had said.
Amorta did not overreact to this, and in fact, Sirius had not said anything wrong; Professor Snape did indeed have experience serving as a Death Eater.
The conversation between Professor Snape and Malfoy on the screen seemed to have reached a conclusion, as Amorta could tell from Snape's expression that there was a hint of suspicion. However, it appeared that he had agreed to Malfoy's proposal. They stopped talking and Snape took Malfoy up the stairs next to the foyer and appeared on the third floor.
"Are they looking for you?"
Sirius was alert and stood up from the sofa, looking at Amorta who was intertwining her fingers and placing them on her raised knees.
"What do you think it's for?"
"I'm as confused as you are," Amorta said calmly, "I don't have much of a relationship with Lucius Malfoy. To be precise, we have some conflicts. But I believe he's not here to cause trouble for me."
Who has the ability to cause you trouble?
Sirius was about to say this, but a dart of flickering light that shot out from Amorta's sleeve turned him back into Lupin.
After making a few unhappy noises, Lenny flew onto the sofa and smartly kept one paw raised as a cat should.
Unexpectedly, the door was knocked shortly after, and after covering the black curtain again, Amorta walked over to open the door.
"I heard that you've returned to school from Pomona,"
As their relationship with Amorta, Snape didn't need to hide anything. He squinted his eyes and raised his chin, asking casually,
"I thought you had gone home for Christmas. How did he manage to show up?"
"It was just a coincidence on the train..."
Amorta shrugged indifferently and said lightly, followed by a stern smile aimed at the prudent and reserved Lucius Malfoy.
"This is Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father—"
Professor Snape stepped aside, quickly glancing at the exchange between Amorta and Lucius. He immediately realized that the lie Lucius told him about having some connection with Amorta was false, but it was clear that the two did know each other.
As Snape's gaze shifted away from them, Lucius also gave a subtle glance, and Snape, who received the signal, momentarily hesitated before reluctantly speaking,
"Lucius told me that he has some private matters to discuss with you alone."
What does Lucius Malfoy want to do, try to get information about that notebook from me?
In an instant, Amorta's mind went to this thought because she knew that I wouldn't likely pay attention to him, so she wanted to use Professor Snape's connection as a buffer?
"If so—"
Amorta nodded.
"Please come in, Mr. Malfoy."
(End of this chapter)
