"Don't rush. Take your time."
Maurise tossed his broomstick aside. "Where are my five thousand Gal... I mean, where is Sirius Black?"
Fred's voice immediately echoed in his mind. "The Shrieking Shack."
Maurise raised an eyebrow. "What were you doing down there?"
"Remember that secret passage under the Whomping Willow?" Fred spoke rapidly, as if he had been holding it in for ages. "It leads straight to the Shrieking Shack. We haven't been down there in a long time, so since we had a free morning, we decided to check it out. And guess what? We found a massive black dog curled up asleep inside."
George chimed in, "The dog looks exactly like the one on the notice board. It is definitely him. We are hiding in the passage right now. Maurise, hurry up and get a professor... Fred, did you just let one rip?"
"Don't worry about it, George."
"How can I not worry about it? It already smells like..."
"Alright, that is enough," Maurise interrupted. "Just stay exactly where you are. Do not move. I will be right there."
"Then you had better hurry. He could make a run for it at any second, and there is no way we can stop him," Fred urged. "By the way, to get into the passage, you have to calm the Whomping Willow down first. It is simple enough. You just need to find a way to press the knot on its trunk."
"I know, but I will not need it," Maurise replied. "Do not forget I can slip into the shadows."
He had been down there with Lupin before, so he was fairly familiar with the layout. Still, he had to admit that Sirius Black had quite the nerve to hide out in the Shrieking Shack.
Maurise moved swiftly and reached the Whomping Willow in no time. The violent tree was incredibly sensitive to any wizard drawing near.
He had barely taken a few steps before the tree began thrashing its thick branches at him, the heavy wood whistling through the air. A single hit would leave a person covered in ugly bruises, or worse, completely broken.
Maurise did not even break his stride as he marched straight toward the entrance of the secret passage. The very moment a heavy branch came crashing down, he activated his Shadow Walk and seamlessly merged into the darkness below.
The Whomping Willow's attack struck nothing but dirt. The branches flailed blindly in the air for a few more seconds before slowly settling back into an uneasy stillness.
The secret passage was pitch black. Maurise emerged from the shadows and pressed forward. Before long, a faint point of light appeared in the distance.
"Maurise, is that you?" came Fred's hushed voice.
Soon after, two figures stepped into view.
"Where is the professor?" Fred held up his illuminated wand, peering into the gloom behind Maurise with a confused expression. "Why are you here alone?"
Maurise flashed a confident smile. "Do you honestly think I cannot handle a single fugitive?"
They were severely underestimating him. Having known him for a while, the Weasley twins should have had at least some idea of his capabilities. Besides, if he dragged a professor into this, how on earth was he supposed to claim the entire five thousand Galleon bounty for himself?
"The man is a murderer," Fred pointed out, his face looking slightly pale in the wandlight.
"Being a murderer does not automatically make someone a powerful wizard," Maurise shrugged dismissively. "It means absolutely nothing."
He firmly believed that the chances of losing a duel to Sirius Black were astronomically low. Even in the worst-case scenario, unless the man possessed magic on par with Albus Dumbledore, Maurise was completely confident in his ability to retreat in one piece.
"Alright, I am going in. Once I collect the bounty, I will make sure to cut you two in."
Without wasting another breath, Maurise squeezed past the twins and headed for the end of the tunnel.
"Bounty? What bounty?" Fred froze for a split second before the realization finally hit him. "Wait up, Maurise!"
The two of them scrambled to catch up.
At the very end of the passage, a trapdoor fashioned from uneven floorboards loomed above them.
"Sirius Black is sleeping right against the left wall," Fred whispered so softly he was barely audible, terrified of waking the occupant above.
Maurise nodded. "I will go out first. You two wait for my signal."
After giving his instructions, he deliberately ignored the wooden trapdoor. Instead, he invoked his Shadow Walk once more, seamlessly slipping through the narrow cracks between the floorboards.
Fred had been entirely correct. Through his heightened perception, Maurise immediately sensed a large black dog curled up asleep in the corner of the room.
Judging by its sheer size, it was nearly identical to the beast he had encountered previously. There was no doubt about it. This was Sirius Black.
Having confirmed his target, Maurise did not hesitate. He materialized from the shadows, immediately raised his wand, and hurled a curse directly at his walking five thousand Galleons.
A sneak attack!
"Incarcerous!"
Thick, sturdy ropes shot rapidly from the tip of his wand, flying with deadly precision straight toward the sleeping canine.
However, the completely unexpected occurred. In that exact fraction of a second, Sirius snapped his eyes open and threw himself into a rather ungraceful roll, narrowly dodging the incoming spell.
The ropes merely grazed the dog's spine before slamming into the wall. The animal scrambled to its feet, locking its fierce, unblinking eyes onto Maurise.
Seeing this, Maurise decided against rushing his next attack.
"Sirius Black?" he asked in a remarkably calm voice. "An Animagus, am I right?"
A deep, threatening growl rumbled from the black dog's throat.
"Perhaps you should return to your true form," Maurise continued easily. "A mere dog has absolutely no chance of defeating me."
Even though he was practically certain of the man's identity, he wanted to see the fugitive's true face with his own eyes. It would be incredibly embarrassing to discover he had attacked the wrong target.
Sirius apparently reached the same conclusion regarding his odds in animal form. A few agonizing seconds later, the black dog's body began to warp. Its thick fur receded, and its limbs forcefully elongated.
Moments later, a man stood precisely where the dog had been. He was unkempt and dressed in filthy rags, sporting a chaotic tangle of matted hair and a wild beard. He looked identical to the haunting figure plastered across every wanted poster in the country.
Sirius Black.
He slowly straightened up, rolling his stiff wrists. At some unseen moment, a wand had materialized in his dirt-caked hand.
"Is that..."
Realization suddenly dawned on Maurise as he spotted the weapon. Now he finally understood exactly why Tin's wand had mysteriously vanished. It had been stolen by this very dog. The wand clutched tightly in Sirius's grip was unmistakably the second-hand one that Tin had lost.
Sirius did not speak, nor did he waste energy on useless gestures. He merely shot Maurise an icy glare and immediately began to slash the stolen wand through the air.
Maurise's eyes narrowed dangerously.
He recognized the preparatory movements for Apparition! If the man successfully vanished, five thousand Galleons would literally vanish right along with him.
Without a shred of hesitation, he thrust an open hand toward the desperate fugitive.
"Qwa... Zinth... Oor!" (Wailing Curse.)
If the goal was to violently disrupt an opponent's magical rhythm, this specific dark curse was undeniably the most effective tool in his arsenal. A sudden wisp of sickly gray mist shot forward and sank directly into Sirius's chest.
Sirius's fluid movements violently jerked to a halt. He was forced to abruptly cancel his Apparition.
"What did you just do to me?" he rasped in a hoarse voice, his gaunt face contorting in pure agony.
In that horrifying split second, an endless barrage of piercing, agonized shrieks had flooded his mind without warning. It sounded identical to the blood-curdling screams the prisoners of Azkaban made when swarmed by Dementors. No, it was somehow even worse than that.
Under such immense psychological torment, it was completely impossible for him to focus enough to safely Apparate. The three fundamental rules of Apparition were Destination, Determination, and Deliberation. A single lapse in concentration would undoubtedly result in brutal Splinching.
...
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