"I think so too."
At the same time Hermione was reviewing surveillance footage to track Sirius Black's escape route, Glenn was doing the same, confirming Hermione's speculation.
"But why did Sirius Black do this? Even after analyzing it and reaching some conclusions, something still feels off."
Hermione had also retreated to a corner, swiping through the screen in the shadows while speaking casually.
"Indeed. If his purpose was to 'ambush and kill Harry Potter,' his actions are completely inconsistent."
Glenn replied thus.
"Right, I thought so too. If Sirius Black tore up the Fat Lady's portrait to try some extremely low-probability chance of opening our common room door, then this behavior shouldn't be part of his overall plan to 'infiltrate the Gryffindor common room and ambush Harry'."
"Because even if destroying the Fat Lady's portrait somehow opened the Gryffindor common room door and he managed to sneak inside, when the Gryffindor students returned and found the damaged portrait on the door, they'd realize something was wrong. Then things would evolve into exactly what we have now: young wizards gathered in the Great Hall for protection—especially Harry—and Professor Dumbledore would personally search the Gryffindor common room and dormitories first. If nothing unexpected happens, Professor Dumbledore would then organize the staff to conduct a carpet search of all of Hogwarts..."
"No matter where Sirius Black was hiding, he'd eventually be found, and his purpose would be completely impossible to achieve."
"So what exactly does he want to do? Could it be to cause chaos within Hogwarts so he could find better opportunities to achieve his goals later?"
Hermione was completely puzzled by this, speaking with considerable confusion.
"I don't agree with that thinking. For a target you're determined to eliminate, the best timing and highest success rate for assassination is often during the first contact, when the target hasn't yet reacted."
Glenn was like a machine reviewing surveillance records, expressionlessly swiping through the surveillance terminal while calmly commenting.
"Who asked you about that?! Don't suddenly evaluate and correct other people's criminal activities!"
Hermione felt quite speechless hearing Glenn actually provide commentary on her earlier statement through the headset. But just as she was about to say more, the girl's slightly open mouth suddenly froze.
A few seconds later, Glenn's voice came through Hermione's headset with a ghostly tone.
"You didn't continue lecturing me, so I assume you saw it too—that scene."
Hermione swallowed, her large brown eyes staring directly at the image displayed on her surveillance terminal.
"...Ah, I saw it."
As if worried she hadn't seen clearly, Hermione rewound the time a bit.
On the surveillance terminal screen, in a corridor section, Sirius Black's figure appeared. He hadn't stopped running since leaving the Gryffindor common room, and he hadn't slowed down during this stretch either.
Initially, Hermione was just tracking his escape route, preparing to switch to the next footage segment, but something unusual here made the girl's brain short-circuit for a moment.
It was an action she'd been seeing frequently lately while learning Animagus transformation with Professor McGonagall—something the professor demonstrated.
In the surveillance footage, Sirius Black suddenly leaped high forward, then rolled in mid-air. His form abruptly changed during the rotation, condensing into a black shadow. Then, as the shadow fell, it stretched its body and revealed its true shape.
It was a large black dog.
And this large black dog was somewhat familiar to Hermione—the girl had seen it just this afternoon at the Shrieking Shack.
That thin, miserable-looking large black dog was quite distinctive.
But it was actually Sirius Black transformed?!
Sirius Black was an Animagus—and moreover, an illegal Animagus. Hermione deeply realized this.
The girl took a deep breath and quickly accepted this fact.
"This really is shocking. No wonder we felt that large black dog was somewhat strange this afternoon..."
Speaking of this, Hermione grabbed her hair in frustration.
"I've been studying and learning Animagus-related knowledge all this time, but I didn't notice anything... Ugh, so annoying!"
The girl was both angry and dejected, feeling like she'd repeatedly reviewed a knowledge point many times, thoroughly mastered the types of questions it would generate, only to get it wrong during the actual exam.
"Animagi are among the top tier in the wizarding world for concealment, especially illegal Animagi with no information sources. We're still inexperienced in the wizarding world and didn't immediately think in that direction—it's understandable, so don't blame yourself too much."
Glenn calmly expressed his thoughts. That afternoon, he had only sensed malice and ferocity from the large black dog Sirius Black had transformed into upon first sight. Having fought life-and-death battles among fierce beasts in his previous life, his perception of such auras was fairly accurate. However, since Sirius Black hadn't revealed killing intent toward them, Glenn hadn't thought deeper and simply treated it as an extremely hungry stray dog.
But this time, it was a lesson learned, so...
"Past events cannot be changed, so don't feel dejected about it. But we've learned from this incident, so we'll be more careful and cautious in the future."
Glenn's voice came through the headset. Although this was his best effort at organizing words to comfort Hermione, it still carried a somewhat preachy tone. But for Hermione, this was completely sufficient.
"Mm, you're right, Glenn!"
Hermione rallied her spirits, then glared fiercely with widened eyes at the surveillance terminal, continuing viciously:
"Next time I encounter something like this, I'll definitely be more careful and cautious. This Sirius Black incident has nailed this matter to my pillar of shame."
"So I must catch this guy and tear down both this incident and the pillar of shame together!"
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