Before long, Harry and his two friends arrived in front of the hut.
Knock, knock, knock—
"Hagrid, are you there?"
Inside the hut, a large Big black dog's ears instantly perked up.
Harry is here!
He abruptly got up from the ground, reaching the door before Hagrid, standing upright and pawing at the lock.
Click—
The lock opened, and the door revealed a crack, through which the large Big black dog squeezed out.
He wagged his tail and pounced on Harry and his two friends, clearly overjoyed by their arrival.
Just as he was affectionately nudging Harry's hand with his nose, his gaze fell upon the cage in Ron's hand.
In an instant, his body stiffened abruptly.
Is that... Peter's rat?
As if doubting his own eyes, Sirius looked again carefully.
One, two, three, four, four fingers!
That's right, it's that damned Peter.
With a bang, Sirius felt like his brain was going to explode.
Merlin!
After waiting so long, he finally got his hands on this rat; it wasn't for nothing that he had worked so hard as a pet dog here.
Heaven knows how agonizing it was every time he thought of that rat living freely in Hogwarts.
Now, he's finally made it through!
His expression changed dramatically, from docile to fierce, and he let out a vicious growl at the cage, then made to pounce.
Just then, he felt a gentle kick.
"Big Black, you naughty fellow, you're not nearly as well-behaved as Fang."
"This lock can't hold you at all; you're always trying to run out. How many times have you been caught by the House-elf and brought back?"
"Don't block Harry and them. Let them in, and then you can play with them."
Hagrid's unique booming voice once again brought Sirius back to his senses.
Right, can't be impulsive!
The few little fellows are nothing to worry about, but Hagrid is still here. If he becomes suspicious, the matter of revenge will be troublesome.
Even if he snatched the rat and ran into the Forbidden Forest, he might not be able to escape Hagrid's pursuit.
Moreover, Peter looked somewhat on the verge of death; the few little fellows must have come to Hagrid for help.
In that case, he still had a chance to deal with Peter perfectly.
He retreated to the side, followed Harry and his two friends into the hut, then quietly squatted at Ron's feet, staring intently at the rat in the cage.
"Harry," Hagrid greeted warmly, "Thank you for the gift you sent me. I really like that fan made of Thunderbird feathers."
"By the way," he winked at Harry, "You were excellent in the final match."
"On Friday night, everyone watched your live match in the Great Hall, and they wouldn't leave even when curfew came."
"Finally, Professor McGonagall spoke, and everyone was able to see you win the championship."
"You really should have seen how happy Professor McGonagall was; it was as if she had become several years younger."
Saying that, he took out a basket of biscuits and placed them in front of Harry and his two friends: "Try the rock cakes I just made yesterday. I'll go pour you some tea now."
Thinking of the fear dominated by rock cakes, Harry and his two friends waved their hands repeatedly in refusal.
"No need to trouble yourself, Hagrid. We just had dinner; we're neither hungry nor thirsty."
"Professor Swan entrusted us to ask you to take a look at Scabbers. You know, Ron's former pet rat."
Scabbers?
Hagrid wiped his hands, took the cage containing Scabbers from Ron's hand, then grabbed a chair and sat opposite Harry and his two friends.
Watching Scabbers squeaking and scurrying around in the cage, he sighed softly, "He looks very energetic."
"It's not like that," Ron quickly explained, "When we saw Scabbers, he was listless, lying motionless in the cage, looking like he was on his last legs."
"I don't know why he suddenly became so energetic. I wonder if he was just scared by Big Black."
Ron bent down and rubbed the large Big black dog's head: "Big Black, don't be jealous. Scabbers is your senior, my first pet. You can't bully him."
Saying that, he looked at Hagrid again: "Hagrid, you've seen Scabbers before, you know he's always been chubby."
"Look at him now, he's so thin he's out of shape. Can you see what's wrong with him?"
Hearing Ron's explanation, Hagrid carefully examined him again: "Hmm, he does look a bit malnourished."
"However, there are no signs of illness."
"Combining your descriptions, it feels like this rat hasn't eaten in a long time and is starved to this extent."
Starved?
Harry and his two friends exchanged glances, somewhat doubting Hagrid's conclusion.
Would Professor Swan let a rat starve? He was going to use Scabbers for research!
If Scabbers really starved to death, how would he research?
If Sebastian were here, he would definitely praise Hagrid's incredibly professional judgment.
Scabbers became so thin, aside from the previous torment of Crucio.
More importantly, after Neville learned the advanced use of the Patronus Charm, Sebastian didn't care much about this little thing anymore.
This led to Scabbers, this little rat, often eating one meal and then starving for nine.
During the Potion Championship last week, Sebastian practically forgot about him. Luckily, before leaving, he left a few nuts and some clean water in the cage, otherwise, the rat would definitely have died by the time he returned.
Therefore, Hagrid truly deserved to be the Professor of Care of Magical Creatures; his diagnosis was flawless.
The reason Sebastian had Harry bring Scabbers to Hagrid was, firstly, he was too lazy to manage Scabbers anymore and didn't want this rat to starve to death in his hands.
Secondly, he felt that the time was almost right; it was time for Harry to personally uncover the mystery.
After all, Harry would be busy reviewing in May and busy with exams in June, so it was better to let him deal with Sirius's mess earlier.
Therefore, Sebastian arranged for Harry to deliver the rat after dinner.
Seeing Harry and his two friends' doubtful gazes, Hagrid patted his chest and guaranteed: "You three can rest assured, I am a professional."
"If you don't believe me, you can leave Scabbers with me. In a week at most, I guarantee to return you a lively little creature."
Sirius's heart suddenly stirred; this situation perfectly matched his expectations.
As long as Peter stayed here, he would have plenty of opportunities to quietly disappear into the Forbidden Forest with this rat.
Before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, he heard Harry say: "Of course we believe you, but we promised Professor Swan that we'd return Scabbers later."
"Do you have any quicker methods?"
Send him to that Stinky Swan?!
This won't do; once he's in that guy's hands, it will be very difficult for him to find another opportunity.
Should he risk it now?
Just as Sirius was about to make his move, Hagrid's words made him relax again.
"There is a quicker method, after all, Scabbers doesn't have any major problems."
"How about this, you wait for me here for a moment. I'll go to the Forbidden Forest to find Professor Scamander."
"He has a nourishing ointment specially formulated for weak magical creatures, which is perfect for Scabbers's condition."
"I'll leave Scabbers here too. You can play with Big Black and them here for now."
Watching Hagrid's departing back, Sirius trembled with excitement.
A godsend opportunity!
Hagrid was temporarily gone; only Harry and the two little fellows were left in the house.
If he didn't seize this opportunity now, he might as well find a rock and bash his head in.
Patience! Patience!
Hagrid hadn't gone far yet; he couldn't be impulsive now.
Sirius lay on the ground, feigning an innocent appearance.
It wasn't until five minutes passed that he leaped up, and under the surprised gazes of Harry and his two friends, he bit down on the cage containing Scabbers.
Then, he twisted his body, agilely jumped out the window, and plunged into the vast Forbidden Forest.
...
...
.