Sirius Black attacks

When Harry and Dumbledore finally emerged from the Chamber of Secrets, they were late for the Halloween feast. Dumbledore claimed he had urgent administrative tasks to attend to, allowing Harry to head to the Great Hall alone. This didn't bother the boy, as he wouldn't have to explain to the headmaster that, like last year, he wasn't in the mood to celebrate on the anniversary of his parents' death. On the way, he detoured to the kitchens. He hoped Dobby wouldn't be too busy with the feast preparations. He knew that, no matter how much work he had, the elf would be more than happy to serve him a simple meal and keep him company. But he didn't want to take advantage of the elf.

This solitary crossing of the corridors reminded him of the one he had made during the Halloween banquet the previous year. This time the castle seemed less frightening. The absence of rain and storm contributed greatly, but also the fact that he had grown and felt much more capable of defending himself. His long hours spent studying beyond the school curriculum with Nott had finally paid off. His academic results were still not exceptional, but he knew he could defeat any student in his year in a duel. Maybe even students from the following years!

And since he knew the content of the prophecy, he was pleased. Or frightened. Was it the prophecy that had manipulated him to decide to train? Had it caused the death of his friends so that he would focus on strengthening his powers? How would it react if he continued to devote more and more time to Quidditch?

Despite everything, he jumped when he heard a growl coming from the hallway to his left, which contained the portrait of the fat monk guarding the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room. He pressed himself against the wall, drew his wand, and waited. A few seconds later, what sounded like barking echoed, followed by the sounds of violent thuds against the wall and animal scratches. Harry wasted no time. He gathered his courage and started running as fast as he could towards the Great Hall. But it was a mistake.

Suddenly, the barking was replaced by the sound of footsteps. Whatever was in that corridor had heard him and was giving chase. Harry quickened his pace to the maximum, but the noise was getting closer. The thing was catching up to him, and he would never be able to reach the Great Hall. All of a sudden, Scabbers let out a piercing scream, jumped out of his pocket, and ran to a painting depicting a pear before screaming even louder. That's when he remembered he was right next to his first destination: the kitchens.

He took a detour and reached the painting with the fruit bowl. He tickled the pear, praying for the still life to move aside as quickly as possible. When the painting finally opened he saw the monster that had terrified him so much appear. It was a huge black dog. His first reaction was relief. It was just a dog. A dog that seemed rabid and ready to bite, but still a dog. However, he pulled himself together when he saw Scabbers jump into the kitchens with a clearly panicked cry. In the wizarding world, things were rarely what they seemed. And then, what was a dog doing in the middle of Hogwarts? To his knowledge, Fang (Hagrid's dog) was the only canine present at Hogwarts. He pointed his wand at the dog and shouted

Whatever you are, do not approach.

The dog seemed to ignore him and jumped in his direction. But before he could even think of a spell, Dobby teleported in front of him and snapped his fingers. The mastiff was violently thrown against the wall.

He did not wait to see if the dog would get back up. He hurried to take refuge in the kitchens before it could attempt another attack, followed closely by Dobby who locked the door with his magic. The dog barked, seeming to call him, but he ignored it and let out a sigh of relief. Among the elves, he was safe. He joined Scabbers and spent the following hour gorging on pastries that the elves kept wanting to offer him and trying to calm the rat who was panicked to the point of refusing to eat (which, for Scabbers, was very worrying). Next year he vowed to spend Halloween partying like everyone else.

As expected, he was welcomed like a king by Dobby, who made him forget this incident. After all, it was just a dog. He needed to stop panicking for nothing. He was safe at Hogwarts. At least, that's what he thought until Professor Sprout burst into the kitchens disheveled, shouting his name. An hour earlier, the Fat Friar had appeared in a painting in the Great Hall to shout that Sirius Black had destroyed his painting after he refused him entry to the Hufflepuff common room. Immediately, the professors noticed his absence and began searching the entire castle for him. Harry shuddered, realizing that the noises he had heard were probably those of Sirius Black destroying the painting.

Harry spent the rest of the evening explaining and re-explaining what had happened to the teachers and the headmaster. The latter could not explain the connection between the escapee and this strange animal. Nevertheless, he was sure there was a link and he modified the castle's protections so that animals could no longer enter the grounds, and the castle doors were enchanted to refuse entry to a dog or the escapee.

But Harry had another subject of concern. Following this event, Scabbers, who had been behaving bizarrely since the beginning of the summer, began to lose weight inexplicably. And he categorically refused to leave the dormitory. He forced him into his cage before taking him to see Hagrid, who explained that he was simply extremely stressed. What could possibly be stressing his animal?