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Having learned its lesson from the last time, it decided to act swiftly and decisively, instead of slowly intimidating people.

So the Dementors rushed in and began to suck Harry dry.

In an instant, Harry felt listless, mentally unstable, and unmotivated, as if he would never be happy again in his life, and as if he had no attachment to the world.

Before he could fully savor the sensation, Harry passed out. Before he lost consciousness, he vaguely heard a woman scream.

Fortunately, Lupin reacted quickly and used Patronus, but due to the urgency of the situation, Lupin's Patronus did not conjure any animals.

However, the Dementor left, fearing that the person in front of it might be like the one next door and give it another hit.

Harry woke up not long after, as if he had been jolted awake from a nightmare, and sat up, panting heavily.

"Have some chocolate, it will make you feel better."

A large hand handed Harry a piece of chocolate, and he looked up to see Lupin's face.

“Are you, Mr. Lupin?” Harry asked uncertainly.

"Huh? How come you know me too?" Lu Ping asked with some curiosity.

"Um, I've seen you in my parents' photos."

Before meeting Sirius, Harry had only seen Lupin in photographs; Sirius had told him the name Lupin.

If Lupin were to investigate this seriously, he might notice the flaws in Harry's words, since there were no names written on the photos.

Harry realized this too, and he quickly changed the subject, asking, "Why did Mr. Lupin use the word 'also'?"

"Oh, the little wizard next door just deduced my identity from a few clues. Okay, eat this chocolate first, it'll make you feel better. I'll go tell the conductor to restart the train. We'll talk again later."

Lu Ping got up and left the carriage.

Harry looked at the chocolate in his hand and popped it into his mouth.

“What just happened to me?” Harry asked Ron.

“You were so stiff just now, I thought you were having an epileptic seizure,” Ron replied.

Harry was speechless for a moment. The symptoms of an epileptic seizure are convulsions all over the body; if the body is stiff, then the person is dead.

When will his friend become more reliable?

"And you? Did you... uh, pass out just now?" Harry continued.

"No, but I felt very strange at that time. I felt like I would never be happy again."

Hearing Ron's answer, Harry didn't ask any further questions, knowing that it wouldn't get him anywhere.

You might as well ask the big shots next door.

“Let’s go ask Zicomo.” Harry stood up and beckoned Ron to come next door.

After arriving in the next carriage, Harry told Zicomo everything that had happened, including the screams he heard before he lost consciousness.

Zicomo never expected that the Dementor would dare to continue its evil deeds after Hermione chased it away.

He explained to Harry, “What you just encountered was one of the guards of Azkaban. They were probably sent by the Ministry of Magic to search for Sirius. They feed on human emotions and awaken your deepest fears. We didn’t hear the scream you mentioned; that was probably something you were afraid of.”

After listening to Zicomo's words, Harry fell into thought, unsure of what his deepest fear was.

…………

The train restarted and soon arrived at Hogwarts.

At the New Year's Eve dinner, perhaps haunted by the Weasley twins' rendition of the Funeral March, Professor Flitwick himself took to the stage, conducting about twenty young wizards in a chorus to open the dinner.

After the chorus ended, Dumbledore came forward.

"Welcome to the new school year at Hogwarts. Before you're all too dazed from the delicious meal, I have a few things to announce."

"First of all, as you all know, your Professor Lockhart has resigned from his position as Defense Against the Dark Arts and Counterattack class to become the editor-in-chief of The Wizarding Weekly."

Regretful sighs came from all four houses, it seems Lockhart has quite a few fans at Hogwarts.

"And our newcomer, Remus... [unintelligible text]... [unintelligible text]... [unintelligible text]... [unintelligible text]..."

Zicomo laughed out loud when he heard "Good luck." He was indeed going to be a bit luckier; the last unlucky one had vanished two years ago.

(Quirk: Are you whipping my corpse again?)

"The second thing is about the teacher who teaches the class on protecting magical creatures, Silvanus... [unintelligible text]"

"Fortunately, I am pleased to announce that his successor is none other than our Rube Zöllner."

Chapter 129 Acting Principal Takes Office, Harry Can't Wait...

"...It is indeed our Rube Zuo?"

After Dumbledore announced the news, the audience erupted in enthusiastic applause, much louder than the one that had greeted Lupin earlier, indicating that he was quite popular among the students.

Hagrid was sitting next to Professor McGonagall. Seeing that he was still sitting in his chair, Professor McGonagall nudged him with her elbow, signaling him to stand up and greet the student.

But Professor McGonagall regretted it the next second. Hagrid was too big. When he stood up, his beer belly knocked over all the cutlery on the table.

"The next matter is more serious. At the Ministry of Magic's request, Dementors from Azkaban will be stationed at Hogwarts until Sirius Black is arrested."

"Dementors will be stationed at various entrances to the school to prevent escapees from entering. Although I have been assured that their presence will not affect our daily school life."

"But I still want to remind everyone that Dementors are extremely ferocious creatures; they don't distinguish between those they are hunting and those who stand in their way."

"Therefore, I must warn everyone here not to give them a reason to harm you."

"Finally, there is one more thing. Due to personal reasons, I will be leaving the school for a period of time. During my absence, Professor Snape will temporarily serve as the headmaster."

Before the young wizards could even process the news about the Dementors, Dumbledore dropped another bombshell.

The four academies were in an uproar, and the main hall was filled with a constant stream of discussions.

Harry was the one who reacted the most. He didn't expect things to happen so suddenly, and one of his pillars of support suddenly announced his departure.

And it was Snape who succeeded him as headmaster.

With Dementors and Acting Headmaster Snape at the helm, Harry felt his academic life this semester was going to be incredibly bleak. He secretly resolved to resolve Sirius's situation as soon as possible.

He needed to at least get the Ministry of Magic to remove the Dementors. He genuinely didn't want to encounter them again; he didn't want to experience that deep-seated fear a second time.

"Alright, children, don't worry, I'll be back soon if all goes well," Dumbledore reassured them. "Now let's enjoy this delicious dinner together!"

However, to Zicomo, these words carried a hint of a challenge. Given Voldemort's survival skills, it was questionable whether he would even be able to see Dumbledore this semester.

Upon hearing Dumbledore's words, the young wizards breathed a sigh of relief and immediately began to devour the delicious food before them.

Not long after Zicomo returned to his dormitory after the dinner, there was a knock on his door.

Zicomo opened the door and found Harry standing outside.

Before Zicomo could ask a question, Harry pulled him outside, saying, "Zicomo, let's go, we can get started."

Zicomo asked, somewhat bewildered, "Operation? What operation?"

"You haven't forgotten about verifying whether Scabbers is really Peter Pettigrew, have you?"

"Oh, so that's what it was about. Of course I haven't forgotten. But won't Ron have any objections if we just go and catch Scabbers like this?"

"Don't worry, he won't have any objections. I put sleeping pills in his water, he won't wake up anytime soon."

Well, looks like Ron will have sweet dreams tonight.

Harry led Zicomo to his dormitory, and their eyes fell on the cage on Ron's bedside table, where Scabbers was resting.

Peter Pettigrew, who was sleeping, suddenly had a bad feeling, and his wizarding intuition woke him up instantly.

Then he saw Zicomo and Harry staring straight at him.

Peter Pettigrew sensed something was wrong, but before he could react, he was bound by Zicomo's magic.

“Very good! Zicomo, now it’s up to you to make him reveal his true form,” Harry said.

"Don't rush, Sirius isn't here yet, and we also lack a credible witness."

"what do you mean?"

“Let’s go, call Sirius, let’s go find Dumbledore, he shouldn’t have left Hogwarts yet.”

Zicomo led Harry to the Owl Hut, where Sirius was hiding.

Hogwarts generally only allows small animals such as owls, cats, and toads to be brought in; Sirius Black's Animagus dog would definitely not be allowed in.

In order to help Sirius Black infiltrate Hogwarts, Harry specifically asked Zicomo for help, and Zicomo thought for a moment and lent him the Mimicry Veil.

So Sirius Black became Harry's second owl and hid in the owlhouse.

Sirius Black saw the mouse Harry was carrying and transformed back into his original form, ready to pounce on him.

Zicomo waved his hand and restrained Sirius as well, gagling him as well.

They're out for a night stroll now, and although Zicomo doesn't care about Filch, if they make too much noise and attract his attention, it will still cause some trouble.

"You should calm down first."

Having said that, Zicomo used the Levitation Charm to drag him toward the principal's office.

Sirius looked at Harry with a puzzled expression. Harry whispered in Sirius's ear, "We need to find Dumbledore now. We can talk about anything there. Let's not make too much noise now, lest Filch find out we're out at night."

Upon arriving at the principal's office, Zicomo began another round of reciting dessert names until he called out "Lemon Sherbet," at which point the steps leading to the office slowly rose.