...Why is it like this?
Two hours later, Harry, crouching under the table at the Three Broomsticks, bit his nails and thought.
His legs were numb.
After being let go by William, Harry had made his way to the cellar of Honeydukes without any trouble. The noisy candy shop was packed with Hogwarts students, who were laughing and bustling without even casting Harry a second glance. Through the glass window of Honeydukes, Harry saw the Weasley Twins frolicking at the entrance of Zonko's Joke Shop—
He had just suspected they were under Sirius's control, but now thinking it over calmly, if Sirius could manage to use the Imperius Curse on two Gryffindor students in the tightly guarded Hogwarts Castle, under the watch of Professor Dumbledore and the prefects—
Well... that would be like Voldemort licking Sirius Black's feet, wouldn't it?
Harry bit his nails, continuing his wild musings. Since he started learning magic from William, Harry had habitually begun to let his mind wander (crossed out) or rather, organize his thoughts in various situations. Kabuda, now awake, sat on Harry's shoulder. Noticing Harry's expression, it immediately gave a paw slap.
"Squeak!"
Kabuda, having successfully awakened Harry, squeaked and excitedly clenched its paw.
Previously, it always wanted to do this when it saw William showing such an expression, but never dared to—now it was finally gratifying...
"Ouch, what are you doing..."
Harry, snapped out of his daze by the paw strike, turned around somewhat bewildered, only to meet Hermione's equally confused gaze.
"Harry, what are you doing here..."
As soon as she started speaking, Hermione instinctively covered her mouth, lowering her voice. She quickly moved closer to Harry but paused for a moment upon seeing Kabuda.
The words that were about to leave her lips were swallowed back. She knew that with Kabuda around, Harry's personal safety was absolutely assured.
"Hey, do you think Harry would like this... whoa."
In front of the Honeydukes stand, Ron turned around holding a jar of cockroach clusters and, upon seeing Harry, blinked somewhat bewilderedly, "Wow!" After a brief moment of thought, Ron was suddenly filled with admiration. "You've learned Apparition already!"
Neville walked over as well, gazing at Harry in astonishment. He had also been buying candy with Hermione, and his experiences in the Duel Club had matured him quite a bit, and naturally, he was no longer as socially awkward as he used to be.
"Of course not."
Harry said, lowering his voice to not let those sixth-year students hear, and explained to the three of them about the Weasley Twins and William.
"...Ha, pretending to be Sirius? That's really in bad taste."
After hearing Harry's account, Ron blinked somewhat speechlessly. Naturally, Harry didn't mention William's initial Avada Kedavra, letting go with a Crucio fighting style. Although they didn't hit him, after all, those spells were targeting him... To be honest, just with William's actions and the pets he kept.
He should be sitting out his life sentence in Azkaban.
"The senior wanted Harry to recognize the threats outside the castle, especially since those Dementors aren't 'protecting' us anymore."
Hearing Neville's words, Harry couldn't help but twitch his mouth; Dementors, protection—those two words being combined was truly magical... Wait, what's that supposed to mean...
"What do you mean, those Dementors are gone?"
Harry widened his eyes, his thoughts whirling rapidly. Clearly, during the days he was lying in recovery in the Hospital Wing under Ms. Pomfrey's care, something might have happened in the castle?
And as he thought, during the time he and the school Quidditch team were recovering, quite a few things had occurred inside the castle. "For instance, all of the Dementors have been withdrawn, and now every gate of the castle is being guarded in shifts by Aurors."
"Isn't it a good thing that those things are gone?"
On the streets of Hogsmeade, snowflakes gently drifted down from the sky as Ron spoke, hugging his arms.
Neville nodded in agreement.
"The Ministry of Magic brought the Dementors because they can sense Sirius Black's presence. If it's only guarded by Aurors, Harry's life might not be as safe as before..."
Hermione shook her head, expressing her disagreement.
"You trust those things? They almost sucked out Harry's soul before! And they didn't even need Blake to make a move!"
"But someone can control them."
"Professor Dumbledore? By the way, is that Guardian God really..."
"I think, why are you even discussing this?"
Harry raised his hand, interrupting their argument, a little helpless, even though Scabbers had been found, the relationship between these two hadn't improved much; every time Hermione said something, Ron would instinctively retort, arguing so much that his head started aching.
"?"
"It's my first time in Hogsmeade today."
...
From a distance, Hogsmeade looked like a three-dimensional Christmas card, with thatched-roofed cottages and shops all covered in a layer of freshly fallen snow. Every household had a wreath of holly on their door, and strings of magical candles adorned the evergreens.
Harry shivered; unlike the trio with Ron, he had forgotten to bring his cloak when he left, and now he was freezing. Kabuda had long since burrowed into Hermione's pocket, comfortably napping. The four of them walked down the street, heads bowed against the wind, with Ron and Hermione shouting into their scarves.