But why did Lucius seek out Amostus Brenn?
Spotted uses his paws to hold the protein cake, gnawing away at it and trying hard to think about the problem, but by the time the sweet cake in his hands is finished, he hasn't figured it out.
Yet, as he extended his paw towards the pork chop, Spotted's movement suddenly froze.
Why did he waste his energy thinking about this problem? No matter how much hatred the gold viper and Fenrir Greyback have, or why Lucius Malfoy found Amostus Brenn for some reason, this had nothing to do with him.
Now, with Remus Lupin still lurking in the shadows and watching him with a menacing glint, what he should be worried about is how to make sure that Remus Lupin ends up in the doghouse as soon as possible!
Having taken refuge in the owl's hut for so long, Spotted is no longer as scared as he was at the beginning.
For the past few days, he has been thinking about this problem. Why must he wait for Sirius to come looking for him? Why must he be in the hands of the Ministry of Magic or Dumbledore, rather than. Killing Sirius, as long as Sirius can never speak again, then he can live a safe and easy life again!
But what is to be done?
Just like Sirius cannot tell where he is, Spotted also cannot tell where Sirius is. The two of them are like two hunters in the Dark Forest who are hiding in the shadows, waiting for the other to reveal their position. If one of them shows their hand first, then death will embrace them first.
Lucius is still standing there, frozen in place, while Spotted darts back beneath the shelf and a moment later, he drags out a folded parchment.
Spotted spread the hard-won parchment on the ground. Jumping onto it, he gazed carefully at the names scurrying across the paper in the bright moonlight.
Amostus shook his eyelids, immediately recognizing what this thing was.
The Marauder's Map - that was what Sirius and Remus referred to it as, a contraption they four came up with when attending Hogwarts. Later, before they left school, this marvelous parchment was confiscated by Filch. Amostus had ordered Filch to retrieve the map but came up empty-handed.
Surprisingly, the map had somehow ended up in the hands of Peter Pettigrew, better known as Wormtail.
A talent indeed.
Amostus had this thought flash through his mind, that if it wasn't for a stroke of luck, catching this cunning little bastard would be quite difficult.
Having reached this point, Amostus lost interest in reading further. He raised his wand, preparing to control Peter, who was searching for something on the Marauder's Map. Next, he would summon Dumbledore back to the school to explain everything, have the Ministry of Magic conduct a public trial, and make a public announcement to put an end to this matter once and for all.
But at the moment when Amostus raised his wand, he froze in place. He turned his back to the moonlight, hesitated for a few seconds, then became inscrutable.
Spotted remained determinedly searching the map, and with a little bit of brainpower, Amostus realized that Peter must be attempting to find Sirius.
High above, the fierce winds swept away the remaining clouds, and the bright moonlight gradually turned graceful.
As Amostus slowly lowered his wand, a drop of black liquid appeared at the tip, which slowly separated from the wand under the force of gravity. However, it did not fall to the ground below a thousand feet, instead turning into a black tadpole in mid-air.
The tail of the tadpole waved in the air, stirring up a faint ripple. It swam silently into the window like it was really swimming in water, using the cover of the scattered weeds and feathers to appear behind Spotted. It then merged with Spotted's tail.
Spotted merely felt a sudden coolness in his tail. He twisted his head around in confusion, flicked his tail, saw nothing unusual, and then ignored it.
By the late night, Lucius, Crabbe, and Goyle had been sent back by Spotted, and he was still crouched in a hidden corner, fully focused on staring at the map. Nighttime offered the best cover; if Sirius wanted to sneak into Hogwarts, he would surely choose to do so at night.
Since obtaining the map, he had been resting during the day and monitoring Hogwarts through the Marauder's Map at night.
However, the Marauder's Map is not infallible. Just like Amostus Brenn, Spotted knows that he has returned to school, but he cannot find his name on the map.
These gifted wizards always manage to do things that ordinary people cannot even imagine, thought Peter. Thankfully, Sirius doesn't have the ability to do so.
What should one do, then?
When night deepened, Spotted no longer tried so hard to conceal himself. He lay on the Marauder's Map, his limbs spread out, facing the black-eyed green bean staring at the faint moonlight with a light gleaming in its eyes.
He needed to find Sirius and then figure out a way to kill him.
And these two points are not that simple at the moment.
Because even if he finds Sirius, he cannot have a grand confrontation with him himself. In that case, who will kill whom is still uncertain. Of course, he cannot write a report to the Ministry of Magic voluntarily, nor can he run to the group of Dementors at the school gate and shout that he has discovered Black.
He would have to kill Black with someone else's hands, but definitely not with the help of Albus Dumbledore or Amostus Brenn, as these two are not within his control.
Mmm, the best case scenario would be...
Suddenly, Peter on the ground shivered and shot up, quickly running to the window sill. His eyes penetrated the body of Amostus, who was less than ten feet away from him, and looked out at the dense forest with a thoughtful expression.
Having already made another plan, Amostus was no longer in a hurry. He crossed his arms and waited to see what Peter Pettigrew would play next.
After thinking for a few minutes, Peter suddenly acted, turning around and jumping off the window sill, disappearing into the shelf beneath it and running into the hole in the rocky wall.
Amostus felt Spotted's position sinking rapidly, probably using the same method as the basilisk last year - exploiting the ancient pipes that were built into the walls when Hogwarts was founded. This was not unexpected; a mouse taking shelter in the sewer pipes was quite normal.
Only a few seconds later, Amostus discovered that Spotted had descended to the first floor of the castle and was running towards the lawn.
Spotted's movements are now as clear to Amostus as a bright torch in the deep night. He dives down from the eighth floor and easily finds Peter's shadowy figure, following him like a ghost.
The edge of the Forbidden Forest is home to Rubeus Hagrid's small house, which shines with a dim yellow light. Next to the overrun vegetable garden, Buckbeak is nestled under his wings, sleeping soundly.
Spotted did not linger at the edge of the Forbidden Forest for long. After roughly determining the direction, he darted straight into the dense thicket of vines within.
Why, are you trying to escape?
Amostus raised an eyebrow, his gaze following Spotted as he quickly dived deeper into the Forbidden Forest among the dead branches and fallen leaves.
It is winter now, and the magical creatures living in the Forbidden Forest are not very active. A considerable number of them are hibernating in their respective habitats. After speeding deep into the forest for half an hour, a vast primitive village appeared before Amostus's eyes.
(Chapter completed)
