Evan climbed up the dark stairs to the second floor, and the old black wooden floor creaked under his feet. From time to time, owls hovered over his head.
The layouts of the post office on the second and first floors are similar. There were owls everywhere. On the shelves under them, there were codes of various colors.
Crookshanks was lying on a semi-circular balcony. When it saw Evan, it purred with satisfaction.
Hold on, where is Sirius Black?!
Evan suddenly realized what was happening; he quickly turned around, and behind him in the shadow of the hallway, a black figure rushed out.
Right then, Evan was thrown to the ground and splashed with dust.
Several gray long-eared owls spread their wings and flew higher, in fear of the scene of Evan and the big black dog on top of him.
Sirius Black leaped swiftly and took the wand from his hands.
His body was quickly morphed in mid air, and when he fell back on the floor, Evan saw a middle-aged man who looked exactly the same as the one wanted by the Ministry of Magic: his filthy, tangled hair was hanging down to his elbow. In the dark pupils of his eyes, there was no light at all, and his waxy skin clung to his face's frame making him look more like a skeleton.
“You’ve been too careless, kid!” Black held Evan’s wand tightly and grinned showing his yellow teeth. “Don’t resist. Since you’re a friend of Harry, I’ll only use the Obliviate Charm on you and wipe out all the memories about me from your head.”
Black’s voice was low and hoarse. It sounded like he hadn’t spoken for a long time.
“Listen, I need to talk to you, Sirius!” Evan whispered. “I’m not going to resist. You can keep my wand if it makes you feel safer.”
“Huh, safety means nothing to me!” Black smiled with a ridiculous sneer. “If you, like me, were locked in Azkaban for twelve years, and like me, were tortured by hundreds of Dementors day and night, with your head full of the darkest memories, and enduring the suffering made by the loss of your best friends that's frying your mind; if you've endured all of that, you'd also forget all about fear and safety."
“That sounds really bad,” Evan said worried.
“Do you know how I got through it?!” Black’s expression suddenly became ferocious. “It was revenge. It was the power of revenge that kept me sober. That's how I didn't become a walking corpse like everybody else in there.”
“Maybe I can help you get your vengeance.” Evan sat up from the ground.
“Help me?!” The smile on Black’s face became even more pronounced. The wand in his hand pointed steadily at Evan. “I don’t think so. You’d better be honest and not play tricks with me. I've been observing you for the past few months since our first meeting in Muggle World in August. I know that your skills are actually amazing. I wasn't near that strong at your age.”
“Thank you for the compliment. If I were as powerful as you said, I wouldn't have been in this situation right now!” Evan paused and continued, “But I do want to help you. You remember when we met at the edge of the forest for the second time on Halloween's eve. I covered for you so you could flee; otherwise you would've been discovered by Professor Lupin!”
Evan secretly gathered magical power. Since he saw Tom Riddle’s use of Ron’s broken wand to release the curse in the last semester, he has been studying Wandless Magic.
Although he found many theoretical books on this topic were, the actual process was extremely difficult. Evan had to practice for nearly a year, but he could not control well his magical power and all he was able to make was light that's even less impressive than the doing of a young wizard with his wand.
Such a light was of no value in actual combat.
But perhaps, it could distract Black if it took him by surprise.
Evan had to be careful. If communication fails, he'll have his back against the wall. He did not want to be turned into an idiot by Black’s Memory charm.
“If it weren’t for you, I would have never been discovered.” Black hummed and the wand gleamed slightly. “And I don’t need anybody's help!”
He waved his wand, but Evan was faster than him.
His Magic spouted out, and a dazzling white light flew by like a lightning bolt, Black closed his eyes subconsciously.
Hundreds of owls rose into the sky and the whole second floor was in chaos.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Evan stood up from the ground and he slammed into Black. Although he was short and thin, far from his tall opponent Black, but it was a fast dash and Sirius did not have his guard up.
Black didn't raise the wand in time. One of Evan's hands fastened over his wasted wrist, forcing the wand tips away; the knuckles of his other hand collided with the side of Black's head and they fell, backward, into the wall.
The heavy impact finally brought Black back to his senses. The wand in his hand sent a jet of sparks into the air that missed Evan's face by inches; the latter felt the shrunken arm under his fingers twisting madly, but he clung on, his other hand punching every part of Black it could find.
But Black was far stronger than him, and his free hand had found Evan's throat.
Just as Evan felt desperate, Crookshanks that was crouching on the balcony suddenly jumped to join the fight. His stuck his two front paws deeply into Black’s arm.
Black grunted and let go of Evan. He wanted to throw Crookshanks off, but he did not succeed. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Evan took a few punches at Black's stomach, and the latter was in pain. He curled up loosening his hand and releasing his wand.
Evan grasped his wand and quickly stood up. He pointed it at Black’s chest and looked down at him.
Black sprawled across the wall with his limbs spread out, and his thin chest swelling quickly.
“Good job, Crookshanks!” Evan gasped.
Crookshanks meowed softly and jumped back onto the window's balcony, as though he had finished a trivial matter. The owls in the air came back.
Evan looked at Black. He could vaguely see the handsome man that he used to be in his faint sallow face. Twelve years of prison life have made his character cold- blooded. Before killing Peter Pettigrew, he will not believe anyone, nor will he need any help.
As a lonely avenger, he will use his own power to seize Peter.
He's not as good as a cat in trusting others.
“I've underestimated you. You are much better than I thought. Wandless Spell! I haven’t seen a Wizard with such skill since a long time.” Black’s lips hung up again with his sarcastic sneer. “What do you intend to do, hand me to the Aurors of the Ministry, or to the Dementors?!”
“I repeat, I just want to help you, whether you believe it or not!” Evan wiped the blood from his mouth and there were a few sparks on the tip of his wand. “But if you like this way of conversation, we shall communicate well.”
“Speaking of that, I really want to thank you!” said Black calmly. “I thank you for to the Hogwarts Magic News that you run. When Fudge visited Azkaban, he gave me an issue. There were photos of him giving special awards to several of you. On the front page of the newspaper, on the boy’s shoulder, I immediately recognized him. I saw him so many times transforming. He was still alive. He was actually in Hogwarts, near James and Lily’s son… That night, I escaped from Azkaban because I knew I had to kill him. That's the only way I can make up for my mistakes, even if I had to face death.”
Black’s body trembled slightly, and his voice was full of sorrow.
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