6kv Chapter 265 One Day Guard
Chapter 265 One Day Guard
Chapter 265 One Day Guard (4.6K) (1/2)
"You're too late, Lynch." Sirius Black looked up, his gray eyes filled with suppressed frustration.
Although he was brought out of the near-death state by the therapists arranged by Lynch, and his thin cheeks regained muscle and even vaguely regained their former features, he knew very well that his current situation was almost like that of a prisoner, and he could only survive and move around by relying on the protection of others.
This realization eroded his innate pride like venom, making him exceptionally sensitive to any constraint. This question, rather than being a genuine concern about time, was more of a weak resistance to his passive situation, a defiant attempt to seize even a sliver of initiative.
Lynch ignored his complaints, turned around and closed the door, shutting out the cold outside.
"Your plan is feasible."
He stated calmly, walking to the fireplace and pretending to warm his slightly cold hands in the firelight: "I've confirmed that the secret passage under the Willow of Men is indeed unguarded and has not been enchanted with any new security magic. Entering Hogwarts through it is perfectly reasonable and will not arouse suspicion."
"Of course," Sirius snorted, his tone tinged with nostalgia for their past "feats" and a hint of barely perceptible pain, "no one knows about that secret passage except us raiders."
The moment he uttered the word "predator," James Potter's cheerful, smiling face and Peter Pettigrew's timid, humble appearance flashed into his mind almost simultaneously.
His breathing suddenly quickened, his eyes became sharp and excited, and the flames of revenge instantly ignited in his eyes. His hand on the armrest clenched tightly, and his knuckles turned white.
"Black." Lynch's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a bucket of cold water poured over his head, carrying an undeniable warning, "Remember your task for today. Make a subtle appearance in the castle during the Halloween dinner, let certain people see you, give the Ministry of Magic a reality check, let them know their defenses are weak. That's enough." He stared at Sirius's trembling body, emphasizing each word, "Peter is not your target today. Don't cause any trouble."
Sirius's chest heaved violently as he gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to rush out and tear the traitor to pieces.
He knew Lynch was right, and every step he took now had to be taken with caution, but the hatred that had been building up for twelve years was almost consuming him.
After a long while, he managed to squeeze out a few words through gritted teeth: "I understand." This compromise made him feel a wave of self-loathing.
Reggie, who had been silently standing in the shadows, stepped forward and added, "Also, you must remain in Animagus form until you reach the designated location and begin the operation."
He calmly examined Sirius's current appearance, which, although still thin, could definitely be described as "healthy": "Looking at you now, no one would believe that you are a prisoner who has been on the run for more than two months and has been living a life of hardship. This would expose the fact that someone helped you."
Sirius scratched his now-shiny hair in frustration, clearly impatient with Reggie's instructions, but he also knew it was a necessary pretense.
"Okay, okay!" he replied irritably, his tone like that of a large dog with a collar on, defiant yet forced to submit for the time being.
His chest was still heaving, and the flames of revenge in his eyes had not been extinguished; on the contrary, they were more agitated because they were forcibly suppressed.
Lynch watched Sirius's increasingly agitated state, a result of his forced suppression, his deep eyes seemingly able to see through people's hearts. He clearly realized that allowing Sirius to carry out tonight's plan with such intense and unstable emotions was tantamount to planting a bomb that could explode at any moment.
We need to calm him down.
Lynch suddenly turned around and headed toward the narrow staircase leading upstairs.
"Blake," his voice remained steady, yet carried an undeniable air of authority, "come up with me. There's something you need to see."
Sirius suddenly raised his head, a hint of wariness and undisguised resistance flashing in his gray eyes.
"What?" he demanded gruffly, his body still rooted to the spot, as if defending his last shred of autonomy. "What kind of grand principle do I need to understand now? Lynch, I'm not your subordinate. I don't need you constantly reminding me what to do!"
Lynch stopped at the top of the stairs, turned halfway around, and the shadow outlined the contours of his profile.
"It concerns you, it concerns Harry," he replied simply, his gaze calmly fixed on Sirius's face. "Or would you rather wallow in your anger and miss this opportunity?"
These words were like a fine needle, precisely piercing Sirius's balloon of anger.
Is it related to Harry?
His taut jawline relaxed slightly, and although his face still showed reluctance and doubt, he still scoffed and, with a stubborn air, strode up after him, the wooden stairs creaking under his feet.
They walked silently up to the third floor, and even stepped onto the steeper stairs leading to the fourth floor.
It was clear that no one had been here for a long time; the air was cold and the smell of dust was even stronger.
Lynch led him through a short corridor to a wall with several windows.
Instead of immediately calling to Sirius, he walked over to a window, wiped away a small patch of grime from the glass with his finger, looked closely, and then shook his head slightly in resignation. He moved to another window, trying to peer through the gap between the two panes of wood, but the angle still seemed wrong.
Sirius Black leaned against the cold wall with his arms crossed, watching his actions. His brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and his gray eyes were filled with confusion and impatience.
"What exactly are you looking for, Lynch?" he finally couldn't help but ask in a low voice, his tone tinged with annoyance at being fooled. "Are you taking me to this dusty mess to play hide-and-seek?"
Lynch ignored his taunts and continued his search.
Finally, he stopped in front of the most inconspicuous low window, nestled under the sloping eaves. He leaned down, carefully examining a narrow gap at the bottom of the window frame formed by the shrinking wood, pressing his cheek close and adjusting the angle. After a moment, as if confirming something, he straightened up, turned to Sirius, and made way for him.
"Here," Lin Qi gestured, his voice low, "Look down, be careful not to give yourself away."
Sirius pursed his lips, still feeling irritated and confused. Reluctantly, he bent down and pressed his cheek against the cold wooden frame, peering down through the narrow gap.
His gaze had to pass over the uneven rooftops and snow-covered eaves of several low houses at his feet, and then through the gap formed by two narrow alleyways, before he could see the blurry, bustling area in front of the Honey Duke's gate in the distance.
The figures were small, like moving colored spots.
He looked around aimlessly, not understanding what the point was of showing him this commonplace street scene.
His thoughts were still preoccupied with Peter and the upcoming operation, and his heart was burning with anxiety.
His gaze swept over a series of blurry outlines: a red-haired child, a witch wearing a brightly colored hat—then his eyes suddenly fixed on three figures standing very close together.
One of the figures—
Thin, with black hair, even through the gaps between the crisscrossing eaves above him, even with the distance blurring his features, his overall silhouette, and the indescribable sense of familiarity in his every move—it was like a lightning bolt that cleaved through his chaotic thoughts.
It's that child.
A boy caught a startled glimpse from behind the bushes on Privet Drive, his silhouette now clearer under the lights outside the Leaky Cauldron.
Harry.
In an instant, Sirius felt the rage and hatred that had been tearing him apart in his chest deflate like a punctured balloon.
Instead, there was a deeper, sharper pain, mixed with an indescribable bitterness and a protective instinct.
He looked at him, at Lily's eyes continuing life in James's son's body, at him safely...
They stood there happily, sharing candy with their friends.
"You saw him?" Lin Qi's calm voice rang in his ears, not loud, but every word was clear. "Right now, everyone's eyes, whether good or bad, are more or less focused on him. It is precisely because of this attention that he is in a delicate state, protected by an invisible force."
His words were like an analysis of a meticulously planned chess game: "Maintain this situation, keep him safely in everyone's sight until the very last moment. What we need is to let everything settle down before Peter, or any other potential threat, can react and actually harm him. That's the best option, and the only way to ensure he's unharmed."
Sirius didn't turn around, nor did he answer.
He just stared intently at the figure downstairs that could only be glimpsed through the gaps in the building, as if trying to imprint this moment into his mind.
Lynch's words were like cold chains, binding his restless soul layer by layer, not to restrain him, but to guide him toward a clearer goal.
His clenched fists slowly loosened, and his tense shoulders gradually slumped, not because of surrender, but because a stronger sense of responsibility and a clearer strategy overwhelmed his personal, burning anger.
He took a deep breath, the breath carrying the scent of dust and winter chill, as well as a more ruthless determination that had been forced to settle.
"----I see."
This time, his voice was low and hoarse, but no longer showed the restlessness he had before.
The flames of revenge hadn't died out, but they were channeled into a calmer, more dangerous river. He knew what he had to do.
For Harry's sake, he had to be more patient than anyone else.
Sirius remained motionless in that bent-over posture until Harry and his friends began to talk and laugh, their figures gradually moving until they were completely obscured by the eaves of another building and disappeared from sight.
A few seconds later, Sirius seemed to have exhausted all his strength, and suddenly straightened up, his back to Lin Qi, his shoulders heaving slightly.
The faint light filtering through the window outlined his stiff back.
Silence spread through the dusty attic.
"So," Lynch's voice broke the silence, clear and calm, without any urging, but with a final confirmation, "Black, tell me, what will you do after the Halloween dinner at Hogwarts begins?"
Sirius Black slowly turned around. The excitement and mania on his face had faded, replaced by an almost cold calm, and his gray eyes seemed to be covered with ice.
He met Lynch's gaze, his voice low and steady, each word seemingly carved from beneath the ice: "Go through the Screaming Shack, into the tunnel under the Whomping Willow, into Hogwarts. Find the Gryffindor Tower, enter the common room," he paused, a hint of almost cruel resolve flashing in his eyes, "and then, tear everything in their dormitories apart, so they all know I've been there."
Sirius stood at the window for a while longer, until he was sure Harry wouldn't turn around again before giving up.
The two returned downstairs in silence, the fire in the fireplace seeming even dimmer than before.
Reggie, who had been standing silently in the corner like a shadow, stirred. He walked toward Lynch, his voice hoarse and flat: "The cabinet at the back of the kitchen has food prepared for him." He pointed in a direction.
Lin Qi nodded slightly: "Go ahead and get back to work."
Reggie didn't say anything more, just nodded, and then his figure disappeared silently from the safe house, as if blending into the shadows.
As the president of the Shita Chamber of Commerce, he certainly had a lot of things to handle.
Only Lynch and Sirius remained in the room.
The brief silence didn't last long. Sirius shifted restlessly in his chair, glancing at the door several times before finally turning to Lynch, his tone tentative and less forceful, as if trying to negotiate: "Lynch—I'm just going out in Animagus form one more time, just to check on him from a distance and make sure he's alright before I come back. Nobody will notice a dog."
Lin Qi didn't even look up at him, but somehow a thick book with a leather cover appeared in his hand, its pages tinged with an old yellow.
As he turned the pages, he replied in a flat but uncompromising voice, "No. Animagus are rare, not extinct. A large, conspicuous black dog of unknown origin wandering around Hogsmeade, especially today, will only attract unnecessary attention."
Sirius opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but reason told him that Lynch was right.
His Adam's apple bobbed, and he swallowed back his words of argument, leaning back in his chair dejectedly, no longer speaking.
Lin Qi seemed completely absorbed in the book, his gaze intently scanning the dense lines of text, occasionally tapping the edge of the page unconsciously with his fingertips, as if he were pondering a complex question.
His calm demeanor as he read added an undercurrent of ordinariness, even a touch of gloom, to the safe house.
Silence fell in the room again, broken only by the soft crackling of the fireplace.
Sirius's gaze gradually glazed over, his thoughts clearly drifting away, sinking into a wave of memories mixed with laughter, betrayal, and endless regret.
Around noon and evening, Lynch did as he was told, taking out the simple food Reggie had prepared from the kitchen cupboard and placing it in front of Sirius.
To maintain the illusion that "Lynch himself is here," he also sat opposite him and picked up a piece of food.
However, whenever food was put into the mouth, at the moment the lips closed, an extremely subtle magical fluctuation flashed by—a precisely controlled, silent vanishing spell transferred that small amount of food elsewhere, without it ever being truly swallowed.
Sirius seemed oblivious to the subtle magical fluctuations, or perhaps he was lost in his own thoughts, too preoccupied to notice anything else, mechanically finishing his own portion while his gaze remained somewhat unfocused.
Not long after dinner, the agreed-upon coded signal came from outside the door.
Reggie's figure, seemingly blending into the shadows, reappeared in the room, his hoarse voice breaking the silence: "The students are starting to return."
Upon hearing this, Lin Qi closed the book in his hand, and with a flick of his wrist, the book disappeared from his fingertips.
He stood up and briefly instructed Reggie, "You're in charge here. If there are any problems, I'll be there to help you at Hogwarts."
Lynch glanced at Sirius Black, who was tense up again as they were about to begin their operation. Without saying anything more, he simply nodded slightly, turned around, opened the wooden door, and quickly disappeared into the dim evening light and the thinning crowd in Hogsmeade.
Lin Qi walked steadily toward the village entrance.
From afar, he saw the students gathered there, preparing to return to school, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing out conspicuously at the edge of the crowd.
Standing beside them, with a face as somber as the sky, was Professor McGonagall.
She pursed her lips, making a stern line, and her gaze behind her glasses was fixed on Lin Qi, who was walking towards them. She had obviously been waiting for a long time.