"Where's the boss?"
"Went out, said he found the tracks of those Scourers and is ready to make a move now."
Scourers?
Sirius blinked instinctively. The person just now seemed to be talking about them as a group of Scourers. Combining it with the current reality, Sirius quickly realized what was happening. Clearly, they... no, William's recent "reckless" attacks had made these poachers alert.
And tonight, William suddenly mentioned he would be in seclusion for a night, and these poachers happened to take advantage of this gap.
After half a month of mingling, Sirius's mindset had shifted from initial shock, confusion, and doubt to becoming numb. His mental journey was almost identical to Lupin's last year, and William, in some sense, had become synonymous with "invincible" in his mind.
Come on, have you ever seen someone single-handedly storm into a Black Wizard's gathering and come out without even a drop of blood on them?
Just like Lupin, he mentally compared William's combat power with Dumbledore's — and concluded that he didn't think young Dumbledore could do better. Besides, he's never heard of Dumbledore taming a Fire Dragon like a pet dog?
He even felt he had a common language with that Fire Dragon named Norbert.
Now, looking at the two black-robed men smoking beside a truck, Sirius's eyes couldn't help but flicker.
"Roar..."
The Cheetah's low growl brought Sirius's attention back, and he frowned at the green eyes of the former, "You want to make a move?"
"Roar."
"Then one for each of us, you take the left, I'll take the right?"
"Roar."
The man and the cat seemed to exchange a few words without barriers, and then they slowly continued forward together, crouching in the bushes. Watching the two men's flickering cigarette butts, Sirius raised his wand — "Petrificus Totalus!"
The man's silhouette instantly stiffened, collapsing heavily to the ground. Meanwhile, the Cheetah acted faster, as this kind of animal, when standing upright, could chase after a speeding arrow. After laying the half-head it had in its mouth on the ground, the Cheetah growled lowly again, sniffing gently as it approached the nearby truck compartment.
"There's something you want in there?"
Sirius asked, while he was rummaging through the pockets of the two Wizards for keys, frowning when he found none, then thought... "Wait, aren't I a Wizard?"
After a moment's silence, Sirius stood at the back of the compartment, looking at the large lock on the door. He raised his wand, "Alohomora."
"Click—"
The heavy lock clicked open, and the big cat impatiently roared, pawing at the door. With that sound, a bird-like Snallygaster, covered in ghostly white feathers, opened its eyes in the closest cage, "Roar—"
Its roar was unrestrained. With its shout, things in the previously noisy cages seemed to pause for a moment, and then — instantly, a chaotic racket erupted. The noise startled Sirius slightly, making his hand tremble as he unlocked, pulling the door open, from which faint meowing came.
"Roar!"
The Cheetah leaped into the compartment, pawing at an iron cage's edge. The clanging of metal in the chaotic environment was still a bit jarring. Sirius now clearly saw the creatures in the cage were two almost perfectly scaled-down American leopards, clearly likely the Cheetah's offspring.
So it was here to find its children.
Sirius sighed, turning to see a group of black-robed Wizards appearing at the horizon. From the moment the chaos erupted, he knew he had little chance of escape. Those Wizards were charging in from all directions, and turning into Animagus might still get him caught —
After all, these people looked like professionals when it came to capturing magical creatures.
"If I said I was coerced by this cat, would you believe me?"
Sirius gripped his wand, looking at the gathering Wizards not far from the truck. Cold sweat trickled down from his forehead. He glanced at the wary Cheetah crouched low in the compartment, then muttered a soft laugh, "So, my dear cat, do you have a plan?"
"Roar..."
Sirius felt he might be hallucinating because he saw an apology in those green eyes so clearly.
This cat's intelligence is a bit excessive, isn't it?
"So, do you... do you think you can escape?"
Sirius sighed, cursing himself silently before flipping into the truck. A tap of his wand caused the locks on the iron cage to fall open as if in command. He grabbed the two kittens, tossing them onto the big cat's back —
"Roar?"
"In a moment, once I make a move, you should escape as fast as possible —"
Watching the group still waiting for allies to gather, seemingly hesitant to act rashly and risk failure, Sirius couldn't help but chuckle. He hadn't expected that his presence would warrant such caution, to the point where these people wouldn't dare act recklessly.
Only, Sirius didn't know that they weren't intimidated by him at all.
"Roar."
"I've made up my mind, no need to—"
While there was a "tragic farewell" going on in the compartment between man and cat, a sudden, abrupt rumbling rose not far from the crowd. At the same moment, several figures in dark blue Wizard Robes formed an even larger encirclement. Then, a loud voice rang out—
"We are the United States Department of Magical Security, Brisk. Now, I order you to drop your wands, hands on your heads—"
"Bang—"
The next moment, golden fireworks lit up overhead, causing chaos among the poachers, quickly subdued by someone commanding, "Aurors only brought a few people, they cannot possibly—"
Before the man could finish speaking, more deep blue figures appeared. Clearly, the previous flares fired from those Auror wands were a call to gather.
Good, now the number was even, and Sirius, who was about to make a last stand next to the truck, immediately huddled with the fuming Cheetah into the compartment. Seeing the sudden turn of events outside, Sirius decided to seize the moment to fish in troubled waters.
So, the human and three cats lay without any grace by the truck edge, watching the charged standoff outside.
"Bang—"
Again, fireworks burst, this time purple, and as they lit, black silhouettes appeared at an even greater distance, forming an enormous circle. Arrogant laughter echoed from afar, "There's an Eastern saying, 'The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind'... Brisk, look behind you."
"...Now, you look behind you."
And just recently arriving, William, pulling Lupin aside and witnessing this matryoshka of "mantis stalks the cicada" scenarios, casually murmured.