The little creature yapped and shrieked in anger, loosing an arrow into the darkness. It flew clean through three great trees before finally burying itself in the ground.
Sirius had no doubt that if he failed to show a little more respect, the next arrow would end up in him.
Especially since the little thing had already drawn its bow again.
"You…"
He faltered, then said helplessly, "How did you find me? No one knows I'm an Animagus."
"Is the sea around Azkaban cold?"
The young wizard looked at him with those green eyes that seemed capable of seeing straight into people.
"Hah… What do you think that place is, kid?
Yeah… not just cold. Last night was a storm too. The waves were huge. I almost died there. But I made it back."
Sirius said it with a kind of self-mocking bitterness.
The young wizard said nothing.
After a moment, he asked, "Do you have anywhere to stay?"
"What?"
Sirius felt like he was about to go mad.
This kid sounded like one of those frauds teaching Divination at Hogwarts.
Not a word out of his mouth made any sense.
"Do you have anywhere to stay?"
Sean repeated.
"The roadside. Alleyways. You want to know where a black dog can sleep?"
Sirius bared a row of yellow teeth.
Silence fell again. In the end, Sirius couldn't stop himself from asking, "How do you know who I am? If you want to turn me over to the Ministry, you can do it right now.
Then you can collect the bounty. It'd be a nice sum…
And if you don't want to do that—"
Sirius narrowed his eyes.
"I'll pay you even more. Everything the Black family has."
At that, Sirius heard the little creature beside him burst out laughing.
The Pukwudgie butler was bent over laughing so hard its hand on the bow was shaking.
"What are you laughing at?"
Sirius's face reddened.
"Hmph. Why should I tell you?"
The Pukwudgie looked vicious when facing him.
"I've had enough! Either arrest me or let me go. What exactly are you planning to do?!"
Sirius shouted.
"As you wish. Will, take Mr. Black to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place."
To Sirius's utter shock, the young wizard actually nodded.
Even when the little creature grabbed hold of him, clearly not all that pleased about it, he still couldn't believe it.
"Who are you, exactly?"
he asked.
"I'm Sean Green."
the boy said.
Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.
Sirius stared blankly at the building, then at the little creature beside him.
"Your master… your master must be someone incredible, right?"
By now, Sirius had more or less figured out the creature's temperament and was trying to coax information out of it.
"Why should I tell you?"
The little creature shot him a sidelong look, then shoved a heavy jingling pouch into his hands. It was stuffed with Galleons.
"My master's orders. I'll be watching you. If you need help—heh—I'll help."
"What does that even mean?"
Sirius couldn't make sense of any of this.
"Idiot."
The little creature sneered.
"You…"
Sirius choked on his reply.
The thing seemed to know him far too well. They didn't go straight back into the Black house. The Aurors definitely wouldn't ignore that place.
Instead, it only went in with him to collect a few things, then Apparated with him to the Leaky Cauldron.
And just like that, it settled him there, with Sirius in his black dog form.
Sirius had never experienced anything this bizarre. That little creature, and its master, seemed to know him inside out.
But he knew almost nothing about them.
Other than the fact that the kid was named Sean Green… he didn't even know what species the little thing was.
Merlin, had anything stranger ever happened?
"Your master must be a remarkable wizard, otherwise you'd never follow him, right?
I'd bet he can even see the future. How else could you catch me so easily?
What's your name? I want to remember it. The name of the goblin—well, goblin-like thing—that accomplished something big."
Sirius knew perfectly well how to flatter this sort of person. He wasn't especially good at it, but it was still enough to make Will flush.
"You can keep flattering me if you want, wizard. I enjoy hearing it.
But once we're upstairs, you're not to talk.
My master gave orders. You've still got something to do. You can't get caught now."
Will said, trying to sound stern while failing to hide his smugness.
"You know what I'm trying to do?"
Sirius froze again.
"Hah… Are you underestimating Mr. Green?
He's going to be greater than the greatest wizard you've ever known!"
Will snorted.
"But as far as I remember, the greatest wizard of this century is still Dumbledore."
Sirius said.
"Hopelessly ignorant. Go buy a newspaper, wizard."
Will didn't even bother looking at him.
So Sirius ended up going downstairs with it to buy a paper… He had truly never experienced anything so absurd.
But one thing he did know for sure: someone was helping him. A very unusual wizard was helping him.
And meanwhile, at Number Four Privet Drive, almost as if by some kind of shared instinct, Harry said exactly what Sirius had just said:
"I'm leaving," Harry said. "I've had enough."
Then he walked out of the house without looking back.
In a blink, he was standing out in the dark, quiet street, dragging his heavy trunk behind him and carrying Hedwig's cage under one arm.
He saw Sean waiting under the streetlamp, and suddenly he didn't feel lonely or miserable at all.
"Where are we going?"
Harry asked, a note of excitement in his voice.
"The Leaky Cauldron. Remember? They rent rooms there."
Sean smiled.
"How are we getting there?"
Harry felt as free as a bird flying across an open sky.
"You'll see soon enough. Oh—your aunt gave you this."
Sean crooked a finger, and a medium-sized cake floated into Harry's hands.
There was a card on top, a signed form, and a little box.
Harry stood there dumbfounded—and then, with a deafening bang, a blinding light suddenly shot toward them. Harry threw up his hands to shield his eyes…
A second later, there was a screech of brakes, and a pair of enormous wheels and headlights stopped right in front of them.
Harry looked up and saw that they belonged to a violently purple triple-decker bus.
It looked like it had appeared out of thin air. Across the windshield, in golden letters, were the words The Knight Bus.
For one instant, Harry thought he must have gone completely mad.
Then a conductor in a purple uniform jumped down and shouted into the night.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus—emergency transport for stranded witches and wizards.
Just stick out your wand hand, climb aboard, and we can take you anywhere you want to go.
My name's Stan Shunpike, and I'll be your conductor tonight—"
Before Harry could even process that, he heard Sean speak.
"Come on."
Sean took his hand.
~~~
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