"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 seed 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 ntioned 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 ntal journey was almost identical to Lupin’s last year, and William, in so sense, had beco synonymous with "invincible" in his mind.
Co on, have you ever seen soone single-handedly storm into a Black Wizard’s gathering and co out without even a drop of blood on them?
Just like Lupin, he ntally 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 nad Norbert.
Now, looking at the two black-robed n 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 forr, "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 seed to exchange a few words without barriers, and then they slowly continued forward together, crouching in the bushes. Watching the two n’s flickering cigarette butts, Sirius raised his wand — "Petrificus Totalus!"
The man’s silhouette instantly stiffened, collapsing heavily to the ground. anwhile, 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 compartnt.
"There’s sothing 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 mont’s silence, Sirius stood at the back of the compartnt, 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 seed to pause for a mont, 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 owing ca.
"Roar!"
The Cheetah leaped into the compartnt, pawing at an iron cage’s edge. The clanging of tal in the chaotic environnt was still a bit jarring. Sirius now clearly saw the creatures in the cage were two almost perfectly scaled-down Arican 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 mont 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 ca to capturing magical creatures.
"If I said I was coerced by this cat, would you believe ?"
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 compartnt, 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 mont, 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 compartnt between man and cat, a sudden, abrupt rumbling rose not far from the crowd. At the sa mont, several figures in dark blue Wizard Robes ford an even larger encirclent. Then, a loud voice rang out—
"We are the United States Departnt of Magical Security, Brisk. Now, I order you to drop your wands, hands on your heads—"
"Bang—"
The next mont, golden fireworks lit up overhead, causing chaos among the poachers, quickly subdued by soone 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, imdiately huddled with the fuming Cheetah into the compartnt. Seeing the sudden turn of events outside, Sirius decided to seize the mont 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 ti 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.
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