The newly freed Sirius chose not to escape, and the time spent in Hagrid's hut helped calm the anxious mood he developed from years in Azkaban. His mind became clearer and his intelligence regained its place, so Sirius suddenly realized—
Honestly, he didn't have to be so overly cautious because as an illegal Animagus, there were only two people in the entire castle who could identify his Animagus form. Now, the Dementors around the castle had retreated, so he only needed to avoid one of them—
Today is actually a great opportunity.
Christmas of 1993 happened to coincide with a full moon night, so it's absolutely impossible to run into Lupin at the castle these days.
Another reason he didn't abandon this identity was naturally that Hagrid was his greatest assurance of being able to appear in the castle without suspicion.
It's just that Sirius didn't expect to bump into this Niffler the moment he sneaked into the castle, simply... no, that Niffler is too weird, and its owner can't be normal either... Through the dense fir trees, Sirius quickly swept his alert eyes over William's handsome profile, and he made a decision—
Not the right time, better slip away first.
Moreover, he seemed to see that the cat who always wanted to be his boss was also present and appeared to have spotted him, struggling—
"Meow!"
Crookshanks suddenly leaped from Professor McGonagall's arms, climbed Hagrid's coat all the way to the Half-Giant's head, then perched right onto the head of the big black dog trying to sneak away—
"Meow meow!"
"It's questioning why this dog doesn't know how to greet when seeing his boss?"
Crookshanks' cry was sharp, drawing the attention of Newt and the others who were drinking, while William, level ten in Beast Language, helpfully translated.
"Oh, I didn't know it came with me—"
Hagrid turned around, and as a result, the fir tree he had in his hand swung with his motion, striking Sirius forcefully. The quick-eyed Crookshanks jumped away hastily, barely avoiding being "swept out" along with Sirius.
"Ooo—"
Sirius, swept out the door, let out a couple of timely howls before darting into the vast snow with his tail between his legs.
"Oh, is it alright?"
Newt, worriedly, glanced at the big dog disappearing into the white snow, while Hagrid casually waved a hand—
"Hey, it's not far from my hut, don't worry; right now, I'm more interested in hearing about your adventures."
"Speaking of adventures—"
William suddenly joined the conversation, exchanging a glance with Newt before, under bewildered stares from Hagrid and Professor McGonagall, Newt squatted down and opened the magical little suitcase he held, "Woof!" At the next moment, Xiaoming anxiously pushed open the case lid from inside and poked his head out.
"Is that Fluffy!" Hagrid recognized the Three-Headed Dog he'd cared for over several years at a glance, exclaiming excitedly.
"What's Fluffy?"
A puzzled voice came from the direction of the spiral staircase, followed by several figures descending hurriedly, but upon seeing Professor McGonagall next to Hagrid, they stopped in their tracks, and Professor McGonagall tightened her lips—the smile had long vanished while chatting with Newt.
Chasing and playing, but these kids were all Gryffindors—even deducting points would mean taking points from Gryffindor... Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes.
"Ahem, Merry Christmas, Professor McGonagall!"
In the end, it was Hermione who broke the awkward silence, and the two boys scrambled behind her to greet Professor McGonagall before gathering around Hagrid afterward. Newt had already pushed back the three dog heads, closed the suitcase, and retreated to the side, looking like a little old man without a presence.
"Well, it's just..."
Hagrid's gaze started to drift towards William; he was now a bit confused, faced with Harry's curiosity, a bit lost, as he's not good at lying.
Although his plea for help wasn't answered, it did divert Harry's attention, as the fir tree he was holding made the three kids finally notice William standing aside, coping with Kabuda's affectionate tactics. Harry immediately greeted the future nervously.
Suspicious...
Seeing Harry's involuntarily tense expression, William instinctively narrowed his eyes.
So he turned to look at Hermione, meanwhile, Harry and Ron also fixed pleading eyes on Hermione. However, the girl clearly didn't intend to cover for them—before William could ask, she had already leaned over and started whispering in his ear.
"What's a Firebolt?"
William, who basically paid no attention to Quidditch, only defined broomsticks as "rideable" and "unrideable", so what Hermione said about the Firebolt certainly touched his area of ignorance. Seeing William's reaction, Harry beside him could only lower his head resignedly—
Ron even angrily glared at Hermione, if Professor McGonagall wasn't still standing by, he might have started arguing.
"It's a flying broom, considered the best currently available."
Professor McGonagall interjected before Hermione could answer, she looked curiously at Hermione, puzzled, "Miss Granger, I remember you don't seem to have much of a talent for flying? Firebolts cost thousands of Galleons..."
"It's me, Professor—"
Harry raised his hand, speaking listlessly. Hermione's words always tangled him up, but the allure of a Firebolt was simply too great. It's his gift after all, if he could use it in a match, even if Malfoy had ten broomsticks wedged under him, it wouldn't matter...
Now that things had been exposed by Hermione, he could only tell the whole story candidly.
"...A Firebolt with an unknown origin?"
Professor McGonagall frowned deeply, seeming to ponder about something, while Ron grumbled grumpily nearby. After all, Harry still had a Nimbus 2000 he'd only ridden for two years, in good condition. If Harry switched to the Firebolt, then he, as a good brother, could claim the Nimbus to ride around!
"But, that broom might have been sent by Sirius Black to Harry!"
Hermione seemed really dissatisfied with Ron's mumblings, she had already dissected and mull over the pros and cons of the situation several times, even persuading Harry, yet Ron, that fool, had Firebolt on his mind...
Therefore, she spoke aloud, making Professor McGonagall's expression turn thoroughly serious.
"Ahem, not even a note, Potter? No card? No information at all?"
"Yes, Professor."
Harry nodded glumly.
"Then I'm afraid we'll need to borrow it for a while; we must verify if it has any Evil Curse." Professor McGonagall said, "Of course, I'm not an expert, but I suppose Ms. Hooch and Professor Flitwick will take it apart—"
"Take apart? No, Professor McGonagall—" Ron was the one who wailed, evidently thinking disassembling a Firebolt was practically a crime.
"It won't take weeks," Professor McGonagall stated in an irrefutable tone, "If I can confirm it's free of any curse, Harry can have it back."
What Professor McGonagall decided was clearly not something Ron could resist. After telling Harry to deliver the Firebolt to her office after lunch, Professor McGonagall then turned with Newt heading toward the hall as it was already lunchtime. "See you later." Newt waved to William.
"Who is he?"
Curiously, Hermione leaned next to William. The exhausted Kabuda, who'd been whispering in William's ear, fell onto Hermione in despair, startling her to desperately catch the Niffler with a ghostly pale expression, giving it a few annoyed pokes after ensuring it was alright.
Oh, empty?
This is quite unusual.