Chapter 70: Sirius Black

Ivan tried to lie down as comfortably as possible, his eyes half squinting as he watched Stan hand Harry a copy of the 'Daily Prophet'. On the front page was a huge picture of Sirius Black.

"He's rather scary looking, isn't he?" Stan carefully watched the expression on Harry's face "Recently, Sirius Black was considered the most notorious prisoner in Azkaban."

"He's killed thirteen people?" Harry asked quietly "With a single spell?".

"Yes! In front of witnesses, in broad daylight, and caused a lot of trouble!" Stan walked over and lowered his voice and said, "Black is a supporter of you-know-who, he has a very close relationship with you-know-who."

Ivan saw Harry act a little nervous.

"Everyone who supported him you know who has been hunted down and these people know that since you know who has disappeared, they are finished, so they all went into hiding, except Sirius Black. He once killed a wizard and twelve Muggles in one fell swoop. Scary, isn't it? do you know what he did next?" said Stan in an exaggerated whisper.

"What?" asked Harry, nervously.

"Laugh!" said Stan, "He just stood there and laughed, and when the Aurors arrived, he followed them silently as he laughed all the way."

Harry said, "He can't be mad, can he?"

"If he wasn't before he went to Azkaban, he should be mad now," Stan said. Then he whispered, "Neville, you know that, don't you? You know that no one can escape Azkaban, but somehow he did and the Dementors couldn't find him."

Harry nodded uneasily, and Stan, next to him, turned pale, as if frightened by what he had said.

Ivan was slightly amused, if the two of them knew they had just passed Sirius Black, they would have fainted.

Next, no one said a word.

The Knight Bus moved on and passed between phone booths and trees while Harry lay on his bed, fidgeting.

Ivan reached out and rubbed Harry's hair with his paw, and Harry seemed to be trying to hug him, so he hurried to move away.

The sky outside the window was a little brighter than before, and Ivan saw a small, ramshackle pub appear in front of him as the Knight Bus pulled up.

Ivan jumped over Harry's shoulder and they exited the bus, Stan put Harry's suitcase and Hedwig's cage on the curb and the Knight Bus was soon gone.

"Well, let's go into the Leaky Cauldron..." Harry stopped suddenly and looked up at an astonished man.

"You're here, Harry!", Said a figure coming out of the door of the Leaky Cauldron, it was the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge.

Harry was secretly nervous as he dragged his heavy suitcase and was led inside the bar by Fudge, where a man with a hunched back and a lantern in his hand appeared in the doorway behind the bar.

It was Tom, the landlord of the Leaky Cauldron.

"You've found it, Minister!" Tom paused and saluted, "What would you like to drink, a beer or a brandy?"

"A cup of tea," Fudge, looking somewhat haggard, pointed to a chair by the fire and said to Harry, "Sit down, Harry."

Harry sat down and, despite the fire, Ivan could feel his body trembling slightly, as if frozen.

Fudge took off his green pinstriped robe, tossed it aside, then roughly pulled up his dark green suit pants and sat down across from Harry.

"We met three months ago, Harry! I'm Connelly Fudge, Head of the Ministry of Magic," Fudge said quickly, casting an odd glance at the black cat that was leaning against Harry's shoulder.

Harry nodded his head, he couldn't believe he had been caught by the Minister of Magic himself. Three months ago, the other party had given him an award along with Ivan, Hermione and Ron, but now he would be expelled.

Before he could say anything else, the landlord, Tom, appeared again with a tray of tea and cakes. He placed the tray on the table between Fudge and Harry, then left the two alone.

"All right, Harry!" said Fudge as he poured the tea, "Surely you know you left us worried about you when you ran away from your aunt and uncle's house. But fortunately, you didn't have any mishaps."

Fudge buttered his baked pastry, and pushed the plate towards Harry.

"Eat up, Harry, you look deathly pale. You'll be glad we resolved the situation a few hours ago, some Ministry employees were sent to Privet Drive, Marjorie was deflated and her memories erased, don't worry, it didn't hurt."

Ivan jumped up on the table and grabbed a cupcake.

He saw Fudge smile at Harry, like an uncle looking at his beloved nephew. Harry didn't believe his ears, he opened his mouth to speak, but didn't know what to say, so he closed it again.

"Ah, are you worried about your aunt and uncle's reaction? Well, I won't deny that they're very angry, Harry, but as long as you stay at Hogwarts for Christmas and Easter, they're willing to let you come back next summer."

"I always stay at Hogwarts during the vacations. I don't want to go back to Privet Drive," Harry said.

"Okay, well, take your time and calm down a bit, I'm sure you'll change your mind. After all, you are family, and I'm sure you love each other deeply," Fudge said with a tone full of concern.

Harry didn't want to change Fudge's point of view, he was still waiting to hear if he would be expelled or not.

Fudge looked at Harry and asked, "Now the only question left is, where are you going to stay for the rest of your vacation?"

"I suppose I could go to my classmate's house, Ivan invited me to go several times," Harry said, unsure.

"You're talking about Ivan Masson, he's a really good kid, he helped us by writing the article about the Chamber of Secrets. He helped improve people's faith in the Ministry of Magic," Fudge said as he buttered another cupcake, "But I'm afraid he won't be of any help since that man.... I suggest you rent a room here at the Leaky Cauldron and stay in it until the end of the summer."