stonecrandall Chapter 475 Phineas Black
Chapter 475 Phineas Black
Chapter 475 Phineas Black
Dumbledore's words plunged Sirius into complete silence.
The effects of the compound decoction lasted for a maximum of two hours, but Sirius Black did not drink anything for three hours, which seemed to confirm that he was not someone else impersonating him.
"So, was I wrong? He really is Sirius Black?" Sirius asked.
"No, you're right," Dumbledore said softly. "As I just said, it's definitely not normal for a wizard to suddenly lose his memories."
"Perhaps it was while tracking down the escaped Death Eaters with Alastor, or perhaps it was the day before school started, but I'm certain that something happened to Sirius that none of us knew about."
"The day before school starts?" Siren asked doubtfully. "Didn't he come to Hogwarts early that morning to complete his onboarding?"
"Actually, no." Dumbledore shook his head. "I only learned from Alastor an hour ago that Sirius left St. Mungo's early that morning to take the train to school with Harry."
"Impossible," Siron shook his head. "He's never even been to the station. We suspect he wanted to surprise Harry at school."
"That's what Arthur said too."
Dumbledore tapped Fawkes' perch lightly with his fingers. "But Minerva told me that Sirius was actually only five minutes ahead of the train. That means that while you were queuing for the carriage, he had just entered the castle."
"What happened during that time, and why he didn't go to the station, none of us know."
A brief silence fell over the principal's office.
"Mr. Ollivander—" After a moment, Dumbledore spoke up, "I need to know more details about Sirius's lost memories."
"Of course, no problem." Xilun nodded.
Although Sirius had begged him not to reveal his affair with Tom and to save him some face, things seemed to be going differently now, and face was no longer important.
"Let me think, where should I begin—"
"It's alright, we have plenty of time, you can think about it slowly," Dumbledore said, waving his hand. Suddenly, a pot of black tea and a dish of sugar cubes appeared on the table in front of Heron.
"Let's start from when I first saw that big black dog after I started third grade —"
Sirius took a sip of black tea and told Dumbledore how he met Sirius Black, who had turned into a big black dog, and how that dog was beaten up by Tom and had to follow a cat around begging for mercy before sneaking into Hogwarts.
During this time, Dumbledore listened very attentively, and only nodded thoughtfully after Siren finished speaking.
Before he could say anything, another voice came from the opposite wall.
"Useless trash, idiot, a prodigal son who has utterly disgraced the Black family!"
Xiren looked up and saw that the voice came from a portrait of a wizard with a goatee like Karkaroff's, wearing a silver-green Slytherin outfit, and a smart-looking face.
When Sirius came in, he was sleeping like the other portraits. It wasn't until Sirius mentioned that Sirius was beaten by a cat when he turned into a dog and had to follow behind the cat as its henchman that he finally couldn't help but open his eyes.
"The descendants of the prestigious Black family have been defeated by a wild cat?" he shouted in exasperation, his voice high-pitched and filled with disappointment.
"Why didn't he die in Azkaban!"
Xiren looked at the portrait—since this person could appear in the headmaster's office, it meant that he had once served as the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Combined with his attitude towards Sirius, Sirius quickly guessed the identity of the person in the portrait.
Phineas Black.
He was also a Black, and judging from his age, he was probably Sirius's great-grandfather or great-great-grandfather.
"You're the idiot—" A fat, red-nosed wizard also opened his eyes. "That young man couldn't beat the cat because he was in Animagus form. Do you even know what an Animagus is? You know nothing!"
Phineas Black was rendered speechless by the retort. Every time he tried to say something, the fat wizard would conveniently raise his strong arm and gesture.
Then Phineas dared not speak.
It's not that I'm afraid, it's that there's no need to argue with a brute—damn it, why does Hogwarts have such a barbaric headmaster!
"I see. Sirius shouldn't have forgotten all of such a meaningful past," Dumbledore said, looking out the window, his gaze seemingly piercing through layers of darkness, fixed on a certain corner.
But he quickly looked away and asked, "So you think that Sirius Black forgot all the memories from when he was an Animagus, right?"
"That's what I think," Siron said. "And I once asked Professor McGonagall whether Legilimency couldn't steal the memories of a wizard during his Animagus transformation, but Professor McGonagall didn't know either."
"That is indeed an unsolved mystery," Dumbledore said. "There are very few wizards who can learn Animagus transformation. In the Ministry of Magic, there are only seven registered in this century, and even if you include those who forgot to register for some reason, there are no more than twenty."
As he said this, he glanced at Siron, seemingly casually, before continuing, "Besides, Legilimency is an unpopular spell. Even if someone thought of this problem, those wizards who have learned Animagus transformation probably wouldn't cooperate."
"Dales, what do you think?" he asked, walking up to a portrait of a witch with flowing silver curls.
"I can only say that it's possible," said the witch named Dalys, a former headmaster of Hogwarts and a healer at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries.
"I once treated a wizard who failed to transform into an Animagus. He didn't succeed, but another mind entered his body, and he eventually became confused, often talking nonsense, thinking he was a swan."
"Come to think of it, I seem to have seen a similar situation before," another portrait said, opening its eyes.
"Impossible, I am an Animagus, how come I don't feel that I have another consciousness?"
"That's because you succeeded."
"It's also possible that no one has ever used Legilimency on you—"
In an instant, the entire wall seemed to come alive. The portraits that were pretending to be asleep woke up, and the dozing portraits became energetic. A dozen or so principals chattered incessantly, one after another.
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