"Dear Miss Shafiq:
Please note that the new term begins on the first of September.
The Hogwarts Express will depart from King's Cross Station, Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, at eleven o'clock.
Third-year students are permitted to visit Hogsmeade village on certain weekends. Please have the enclosed permission form signed by your parent or guardian.
Enclosed is the book list for the coming term.
Yours faithfully,
Deputy Headmistress Professor McGonagall."
On the very night she learned that Sirius had broken out of prison, Kate received the letter from Hogwarts. Hermione, of course, had gotten an identical one.
"The Monster Book of Monsters? What kind of book is that? Why have I never seen it in a bookshop before?"
Good student that she was, Hermione's eyes went straight to that unusual title on the book list.
"Not just the bookshops. Even my family library doesn't have it," Kate said, frowning.
A magic book that went on a destructive rampage at the slightest provocation, how could it ever be shelved in a library full of precious tomes?
Although she and Hagrid were on fairly close terms, she still couldn't endorse the idea of recommending a book like this.
"Anyway, when you go to the bookshop to buy it, just run your finger along its spine. That'll keep it obedient for a while."
Hermione's face turned into a question mark. "Obedient?"
In her understanding, the words "book" and "obedient" had never had a thing to do with each other.
Kate shrugged, then got up to help Mrs. Granger carry out the dishes and set up dinner.
After finishing the meal with Hermione's family, she announced that she was leaving, having already packed up everything she'd brought.
"Since Hogwarts has sent the letter, I ought to head back and sort out my things. Thank you so much, Uncle and Auntie, for looking after me these past few days."
Bowing politely to the Grangers, she looked at Hermione, and a small laugh slipped out of her. "Don't cry now. It's not like I'm never coming back. I think Uncle and Auntie are quite happy to have me around, aren't they?"
Hermione, eyes reddening, was teased into a laugh. "You... you shameless thing!"
"Then let's call me shameless." Kate accepted the title with perfect composure. "In a few days, once I've dealt with my business, I'll come and see you."
"Who wants you to come see..." Hermione muttered under her breath.
She laughed, then turned around, took out the Portkey, and vanished from the spot.
This Portkey, however, did not lead to Shafiq Manor. It was the one Katherine had given her before leaving last year, the one that could take her to Katherine's home.
After a dizzying whirl, Kate landed on solid ground. She looked up and saw a small villa standing before her.
The area was nothing but hills, with no sign of human life anywhere. She had no idea how Katherine had managed to find such a desolate place to live.
Before she could even step up to knock, the person inside sensed something and pulled the door open, and a graceful figure appeared in front of her.
Kate froze. Once she got a clear look at the newcomer, she jerked her head away, her face flushing. "Could you please not dress so revealingly?!"
This getup was even more scandalous than the semi-transparent nightgown she'd worn back in the castle last time, and the kind that couldn't even be described!
"My little ancestor, who told you to come find me at this hour?" Katherine looked all innocence, tightening the barely-there purple lace nightgown around herself, leaning against the doorframe and speaking in an airy tone.
Kate was speechless for a moment, then simply turned her back. "Fine, then I'll just leave!"
"There isn't a single person living within thirty miles in any direction. If you want to walk, it'll probably take you all night."
Katherine raised her voice in warning. "And the Portkey's already been used. Next time you want to come, you might not be able to find this place at all."
Kate's hurried steps stopped short. She drew a deep breath and had no choice but to turn obediently back around, though she kept her head down, refusing to look at her. "Then do me a favor and put some proper clothes on, you old lady!"
"Am I old?" Katherine knitted her brows. She could not stand hearing the word "old." "You little brat, take a good look. My figure's this perfect. Where exactly am I old?"
Kate went quiet for a long moment, deciding she'd rather turn back and walk the thirty miles after all!
She'd taken only a few steps the way she'd come when her body drifted backward against her will. Kate turned in alarm, only to find that Katherine had, at some point, thrown on a bathrobe.
It still showed off her curves, but at least it was decent enough to look at.
Her whole body landed right at the villa's doorway. Forced to lift her head, she gazed up at her. "Auntie, the latest issue of the Daily Prophet, have you read it?"
Katherine arched an eyebrow, then grabbed her by the collar and hauled her inside. "Come in and talk."
Kate, with her throat gripped by her Auntie: ...
Once she'd finally been dragged into the living room, Katherine graciously let her off the hook. Rubbing her neck a little uncomfortably, Kate gave the room a careless sweep and spotted a copy of the Daily Prophet lying on the table.
On the largest section was a roaring Sirius, the moving kind, far more vivid than anything on TV.
With no time to admire Katherine's home, she lunged at the table, snatched up the newspaper, and read it closely.
"So you know him too," Katherine said, settling casually onto her leather sofa. "The mysterious person's servant, who betrayed his friends the Potters and caused their deaths, and turned his godson Harry Potter into the magical world's famous Savior."
This was the impression everyone in the magical world held of that episode from over a decade ago.
Kate was in no rush to refute it. There was no need for her to argue the point. Sirius had nothing to do with her now anyway.
As for overturning the verdict, she'd leave that to his godson. At most she'd lend a hand, and that only for Harry's sake.
"He's broken out, and it looks like he'll head straight for Harry." She analyzed it calmly. "The Ministry of Magic should be making some kind of move, shouldn't it?"
Katherine folded her arms. "Right on the mark. A friend of mine at the Ministry says that the very day Black escaped, Azkaban reported it to the Ministry at once."
"Now there's a voice inside saying they should deploy Azkaban's own guards, the Dementors, to hunt down Black's trail."
Kate was silent for a moment. "It's surprising, but when you think it through, it's exactly the sort of thing the Ministry would do."
"Oh? I thought you'd be dead set against something like this." Katherine asked with interest. "Care to tell me what you're thinking?"
"Simple. Since Azkaban was founded, Black is the first prisoner ever to break out. I imagine that right now, on top of their fury, the Ministry officials are in quite a panic."
In wizards' minds, Azkaban was a taboo. It was precisely because of its deterrent power that the vast majority of wizards, even while wielding power beyond any Muggle's, kept themselves in line.
Now Black had shattered that taboo. Even if it was only him, it would plant an illusion in other wizards, making them feel that Azkaban wasn't so terrifying after all.
Much of the time, what restrains people isn't morality or law, but strong, forceful punishment, and this was one of the Ministry of Magic's instruments of rule.
When the instrument is called into question, the rule itself begins to totter."
The Ministry could hardly put its arsenal of force on display before the wizards at large, so Azkaban made an excellent benchmark.
To keep that benchmark standing, in a moment of urgency they'd sacrifice a little of the ordinary wizards' interests, unleash the Dementors to chase down the criminal, and burn into the public a terror that even if you escaped, the Dementors would hunt you. Then the rule could carry on as before.
So, were the politicians of the wizarding world fools?
Perhaps because of the population, the political maneuvering inside the Ministry was a touch better than all the scheming and backstabbing out in the wider world, but only very marginally so.
When the critical moment arrived, they were never short of methods to keep their grip on power.
Kate reckoned she had no political talent to speak of. It was only because she stood at a God's-eye view, and because none of it had touched her yet, that she could regard these problems from a bystander's vantage.
Rather than spend her time playing politician, she'd do far better to focus wholeheartedly on building up her own power.
Katherine narrowed her eyes slightly, looking down at this little niece who came only up to her chest, struck by the strange illusion that she was talking to a grown adult who had weathered great storms.
"A fine insight. So what do you plan to do?" she asked.
Kate frowned. "I'm just a fourteen-year-old kid. What can I do? You surely can't expect an underage girl like me to stand on the front line and march off to the Ministry to protest at them, can you?"
Uh...
Katherine ground her teeth. There was nothing wrong with what she'd said, but she'd just delivered a whole lengthy analysis of the Ministry's motives, and now she was putting on the attitude of a little kid...
Was she trying to pass the buck?
She had a bad feeling.
Sure enough, the very next second she watched her niece smile and crinkle her eyes at her. "We can't stop the Ministry, but we can help find someone."
"Find someone?" Katherine's eyes went wide. "You want to go find Black? That guy's an escaped convict!"
Kate raised her brows. "He's going to go after Harry anyway. If it were me, I'd keep a twenty-four-hour watch on Harry's movements. No worry about missing Black!"
Damn it, she'd known it. This little rascal coming all this way to find her, it was bound to be for nothing good!
"And if I refuse?" she asked, with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
Kate blinked, all innocence. "That's fine too. Harry and I are friends, so I'll definitely be keeping watch near his house."
"If Black really does turn up then, and Harry and I are both underage wizards who can't use magic..."
Before she'd even finished, the cup in front of her shattered with a crack.
"Little Kate," Katherine said, narrowing her eyes and rising with a smile, "maybe you don't know this, but your Auntie here hates being threatened more than anything."
"But Auntie, I'm not just anyone." Pulled to her feet by Katherine, Kate still argued stubbornly.
But very soon, after she'd been hurled out the door by one of Katherine's spells and nearly landed on her backside, all her ingratiating words became completely useless.
The sky had gone dark, the moon bright and the stars sparse.
Kate glanced at the moon overhead, then looked back at the villa, a trace of a smile creeping onto her face.
The window flew open, and Katherine's exasperated voice rang out from inside. "You little rascal, you still haven't told me the address!"
"Let me stay the night at your place, and I'll tell you."
"Get lost!"
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