Malfoy was not afraid, but he became more and more gloomy.

He was a small bud in the corner of Hogwarts that no one cared about and hadn't even bloomed yet.

The entire school's eyes were now on Harry.

The calendar turns page by page.

In the midst of their busy study lives, they have been looking forward to it, and finally February has arrived, and at the end of this month, the second round of the Top Three Tournament will take place.

During this period of time.

Harry continued to study every day, and occasionally took out the Marauder's Map to see if the names of Barty Crouch or "Corban Yaxley" would appear. Unfortunately, he found nothing, but he often saw Karkaroff's name appear in Snape's office.

Although he went diligently, he was still timid and had not yet made up his mind to contact the Death Eaters.

Until the week before the second round of projects.

An unexpected figure appeared in Hogwarts.

In the lounge, Crookshanks led a big black dog in. Although the dog was disguised very well, almost anyone who knew it could tell at a glance that it was Sirius Black. George and Fred greeted him warmly and fed him a piece of chocolate and a glass of vodka.

Wait for Harry and the others to come back.

Several people were dancing there, pulling their legs.

Harry waved his wand and a piece of parchment on the table turned into a collar and lifted it up.

"Oh, Harry, you're back?" Fred waved at him and greeted him cheerfully, "Would you like to have a drink with me?"

Harry shook his head: "No, Godfather came to see me probably because of something."

He dragged Sirius out again.

Hermione and Ron followed him.

After they all walked out, Fred nodded blankly, mumbled a response, turned his head to look at his hand, and asked in confusion: "Where is Mr. Black?"

Outside the tower, the cold wind was howling.

Sirius's alcohol-numbed brain came to a clearer state. He raised his head and looked blankly at Harry, then at Hermione and Ron. After making sure that there was no one else around, he yawned and returned to his adult form.

"Harry, long time no see!" he greeted warmly.

Harry nodded. "Long time no see. Why didn't you tell me you were coming to school?"

"I have a surprise for you." Sirius reached into his arms, took out his Traceless Extension Pocket, and pulled something out. "I had some things to do during my vacation and couldn't make it back in time for Christmas. This is a belated Christmas gift."

Ron's eyes widened.

Hermione was surprised.

Harry had a complicated expression.

It was an egg, not a dragon egg, but like a dragon egg, it was filled with a strong scent, a scent that he was very familiar with.

"Thunderbird eggs?" He took a deep breath.

Sirius held it up high. "Yes, it took a lot of effort to get it. The Ministry of Magic in Erimacken, oh, they are called the Parliament, they are really difficult to deal with. They are completely different from those Muggle officials."

"They are too responsible. Whenever I show up at the border, they will immediately come out and stare at me covetously."

As he said this, he sighed.

He talked incessantly about how he crossed the Mediterranean Sea, crossed the dangerous land of Africa, set out from Mozambique, floated in the Indian Ocean for half a month, was almost swallowed by a giant whale, and recuperated in Australia for a week before officially starting his journey across the Pacific Ocean.

It's just that Eric Macon can't get in.

He had to spend a few days of vacation in Hawaii before he could land successfully with a group of stowaways.

In order to steal the thunderbird egg, he fought with a group of thunderbirds and escaped before the wizards found him.

Ron listened attentively, his eyes full of envy.

What an amazing four months.

"You didn't get caught?" Harry asked when he finished.

Sirius shook his head and winked. "How could that be possible? I'm very experienced. Although the wizards in Erimacken are very serious, they are not much better than the Aurors. A Transfiguration spell can fool them."

"That's good." Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "I don't want someone to come over there in a few months and I have to find a way to rescue you."

Sirius stuffed the egg into his arms: "How is that possible! It's a pity that I originally wanted to steal a manual on how to raise thunderbirds."

"But their sense of smell is a little too keen. The Aurors of Great Britain are not like that..."

Harry interrupted him, holding the egg in his arms: "You want me to raise it?"

"Ah?" Sirius nodded blankly. "The Thunderbird is a very powerful magical animal, no less powerful than the Phoenix. Moreover, its blood and feathers are so difficult to obtain. Sometimes, as soon as I hear the news, it's already been bought."

"Godfather, this is great." Harry touched the egg and felt its scent, "but where should I keep it?"

"School?"

Sirius nodded thoughtfully, "So I make a space in my house to keep it?"

"It's better to get the legal procedures." Harry agreed with him, "I'll ask Professor Dumbledore in a few days. He should have a way."

"I'll contact the people at the Ministry of Magic as well." Sirius spoke up as if to take credit for something.

"Speaking of the Ministry of Magic." Harry returned the egg to him. He couldn't keep it in his hands, otherwise he would always wonder if he could make a potion out of it. "Godfather, I'll have to trouble you to check a few people for me."

"Are we going to take action against the Ministry of Magic?" Sirius' eyes became dangerous.

Harry shook his head and told him everything that happened before and after the Christmas ball. "Although I suspect Barty Crouch Jr., the person most likely to have done these things is Coban Yaxley."

Sirius's eyes became more dangerous: "I know him, a very troublesome guy. I have fought him many times."

"I don't know where Skeeter has gone recently. I haven't heard from him yet." Harry frowned. "Something may have happened to her. The Daily Prophet hasn't published any of her articles in a while. If I have a chance, I'll look for her."

"Which Skeeter?" Sirius was stunned, his tone was surprised, "Is it that Skeeter?"

Harry nodded. "The one from the Daily Prophet."

"She's on our side?" Sirius shook his head, somewhat incredulous. "That woman doesn't look like a good person."

"A little deal." Harry said briefly, "I'll explain it to you when we find her. At least when it comes to dealing with the Death Eaters, she will definitely stand on our side."

Sirius nodded thoughtfully, "I'm somewhat impressed by her. I always thought she was the type who only gossiped."

"You're right." Hermione said, confirming his thoughts, "She is indeed that kind of person."

They chatted for a while, and Sirius couldn't wait to turn back into a big dog and ran to the lounge to continue drinking with George, Fred and others. The sound of his roar was no worse than the mermaid's singing, which allowed the little lions to review the content of the second round of projects.

Until the day of the competition.

It was a somewhat eerie Friday. Spring was approaching, and the cold air was trying to show off its power again, leaving a bone-chilling chill in the air.

Harry gets up early in the morning, and the game will not affect his normal life and schedule.

When I came back from exercise, Hermione was rarely seen in the lounge.

Harry didn't take it to heart. It was good to lie in bed and rest occasionally. She really needed it now.

But by half past eight, when most students got up from bed, and by half past nine, when the second round of the competition was about to begin, Hermione still hadn't shown up.

"Brown," Harry called to Lavender, "Is Hermione still asleep?"

"Hermione?" Lavender was stunned. She was a little surprised. "Didn't she get up very early?"

"Get up?" Harry's face turned serious and his voice lowered a bit. "Did you see her get up, or was there no one in her bed when you got up?"

"When I got up, her bed was empty. It's like this every day." Lavender answered immediately, "Is there something..."

Harry frowned and rushed out of the common room without waiting for her to finish, opening the Marauder's Map.

Maybe she went to the library.

Maybe something else.

But now the situation is special. The Death Eaters are staring at me. They found that they couldn't attack me, so they attacked the people around me...

This is very likely to happen.

The Marauder's Map was slowly spread out, and Harry glanced over the girls' dormitory, the common room, the library, and the bathroom. There was no name of "Hermione Granger", so he continued to look, and soon found the name of the person who worried him.

She's up there with a few other names.

Ludo Bagman, Albus Dumbledore, Madam Maxime, this was familiar to him.

There were also some that he was not familiar with, like "Gabrielle Delacour" - a small pendant that seemed to always be with Fleur Delacour.

"Ivaneschi" is a very masculine name. Harry has seen him before. He is often active on Durmstrang's shipwreck. As expected, he is a student of Durmstrang.

With Dumbledore, Hermione's safety was guaranteed.

Harry put the Marauder's Map away with a blank expression.

He already knew what the treasure was for the second round - his treasure was Hermione.

Fleur's treasure is her sister, but Krum's treasure is a little unexpected, as it is a man. Is he the same character as Dumbledore?

I have a rough guess in my mind.

But he walked honestly towards the Black Lake.

Unlike the past, the seats surrounding the dragon enclosure last November were now lined up in layers on the other side of the lake, with three huge curtains erected in front of the seats, and the house elves were busy fixing these things.

Harry walked to a room and pushed the door open without hesitation.

In the room, Ludo, who was talking loudly, was stunned. He said in panic and surprise: "Harry? How could you... Who told you?"

"It's just that I found Hermione missing early in the morning, and I was afraid something might happen, so I came here to look for her." Harry answered him softly, his eyes fell on Hermione, "It seems to be as I guessed, the 'treasure' for the second round of projects?"