Chapter 267 Burial and Stubbornness

On Friday morning, when Anthony opened the window of his office to look for the ginger cat, an owl finally flew in, dazed. The poor bird had ruffled feathers, looked dusty, and was shivering from the cold. Once it landed on Anthony's desk, it moved involuntarily to the boiling teapot.

Anthony poured it a small cup of warm water. The owl hooted gratefully, lowered its head and dipped its beak in the water quickly, then raised its head and tapped its beak rhythmically, and water dripped slowly from its feathers. Anthony quickly moved all the nearby documents away.

The letter began with "Dear Professor Henry Anthony", but the content was not at all affectionate. The Ministry of Magic, as Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall had warned, did not like their late-night visit to Azkaban at all. The letter pointed out that Peter Pettigrew's "disappearance" after they left was also quite suspicious.

The wraith chicken walked out of the bedroom slowly with a pretentious demeanor, and bumped into the owl who suddenly turned his head. Both birds were obviously startled. The owl immediately flew up and flew around the chandelier in the office again and again, while the wraith chicken fluttered up and landed on the chandelier skillfully, looking sideways at the owl circling around it.

"Don't worry about it, chicken. It's a guest." Anthony said without looking up, still reading the letter sent to him by the Ministry of Magic.

The Ministry of Magic told him that according to the report they received, Dumbledore contacted Scrimgeour, the head of the Auror Office, and therefore had the qualifications to go to Azkaban temporarily; Snape, who somehow managed to get a visit opportunity to Azkaban that night, was also reasonable to appear in Azkaban.

Therefore, among the group, only Anthony and Sirius were former prisoners who were illegally present in Azkaban - especially Sirius, because he even entered Peter's cell - but considering that he had just left Azkaban, and that it was indeed a cell he was very familiar with (Anthony stared at these words and savored them for a while), it was understandable that the Ministry of Magic thought that his behavior was out of control.

Under these premises, the Ministry of Magic severely condemned Anthony's behavior. However, after a few harsh paragraphs, the whole letter suddenly changed its tone and told him sensibly that even so, they were still willing not to pursue Anthony's responsibility in this matter too much.

As long as Anthony remembered to keep the secret, no one would care where he, Dumbledore and Snape were and what they did on a quiet night. The letter vaguely mentioned that because Anthony was still under Dumbledore's guarantee, they - surprisingly - would not try to interfere with Anthony's peaceful life, but they seriously asked Anthony not to try to enter Azkaban again.

Anthony couldn't help but wonder what the "otherwise" they didn't write was. Otherwise he would be imprisoned in Azkaban, again?

…

He replied to the Ministry of Magic's letter - mainly to make the chirping owl leave quickly, he could feel that the wraith chicken was eager to pluck a few owl feathers - telling them that he had received the letter and was willing to promise that he absolutely did not want to go to Azkaban, actively or passively. He had only been there twice, and each experience was not very pleasant.

Anthony handed the reply to the owl.

The owl turned its head to look at the fireplace and teapot with nostalgia, and let Anthony tie the letter to its legs. It flapped its wings alone and flew out of the window and disappeared into the light gray sky.

A thick layer of white snow had accumulated on the ground. Scattered snowflakes still floated down from time to time. Flying in the opposite direction of the departing owl was a large group of happy owls. They glided lightly under the heavy clouds with letters sent to students or ordered goods.

…

Anthony stood on the podium and smiled as he said goodbye to the students who left the classroom. After packing up his things, he suddenly ran into his cat on the way to the library.

It was in a secluded corner, moving around in the ghost body of the fat monk with great interest. The fat monk floated very low and stretched out his hand to stroke the cat. The cat poked its head out of his hand, looked around, and saw Anthony.

The fat monk also raised his head: "Professor Anthony, good afternoon!"

"Good afternoon, monk." Anthony said, squatting down and stretching out his hand to the ginger cat.

The ginger cat shook its tail, jumped up, jumped onto his legs, and hooked his front paws on his front, almost tearing another outer robe. Anthony quickly reached out and hugged it, letting it stand on his shoulders. The cat looked behind Anthony for a while, then retreated, lying on his legs, making a slight snoring sound.

The fat monk looked at him enviously: "That's a good cat, Professor Anthony. I even suspect that it is not afraid of ghosts at all. You know, most cats will avoid us."

"I bet it is really not afraid." Anthony said, "But this is the first time I have seen it so friendly to others."

The fat monk seemed much happier. He stretched out his hand to the ginger cat and watched it stretch its head through his milky white palm.

"You know, Professor Anthony, I do miss everything sometimes." The fat monk said, "Good wine, delicious food, the warmth of friends' palms, the feeling of stretching when drinking hot water in winter... Of course, there are furry animals. I used to raise a few lambs, and they are also very interesting..."

He seemed to be caught up in some warm memories, with a smile on his milky white face. Anthony squatted on the ground and did not disturb him. The ginger cat was still gently sniffing the fat monk's hand in front of him. Anthony didn't know if it could smell the Fat Friar, but to him, the Fat Friar, like any other ghost, smelled like water...or ice, given the feeling of a living person walking through a ghost.

"By the way, Professor Anthony," the fat monk said suddenly, as if he was suddenly transported back to the present, "I heard that Professor Kettleburn is going to establish a zoo at Hogwarts?"

Anthony said with some surprise: "I think he just had this idea. Do you have any suggestions, monk?"

"I hope he doesn't keep sheep," said the fat monk seriously. "They don't smell good, and they eat all the grass bare."

…

After the fat monk left, Anthony stood up with the cat in his arms.

"You didn't become friends with the fat monk because he was cold, right?" He lowered his head and confirmed, "You are not so affectionate towards Nick."

The cat lowered its head, opened its mouth and bit his arm. Anthony hissed.

"Okay, I apologize. Do you want to go for a walk, cat?" The cat still refused to bite, "Huh? Isn't a cold and gloomy snowy day the most suitable weather in the world for a walk?"

He felt the grip on his forearm gradually weaken. The cat let go of his mouth, jumped down from his arms, and walked proudly to the door first. Anthony raised his arm and took a look, seeing several small holes in his clothes over the healed wounds.

"Repaired as before." He pointed at his sleeve with his wand and saw with satisfaction that the hole had disappeared. The ginger cat didn't use necromancy.

Ahead of him, the cat was waiting at the gate, looking back at him.

…

After Anthony walked out of the door, he remembered to ask Coco to put his things back in the office - he did not ask Dudu, who was good at carrying luggage - and then followed the ginger cat and walked slowly towards the snow.

This snowfall was heavier than before, and some small trees were even half-buried. The thick snow made them look like some kind of shrubs. A few foraging birds hopped around in the snow, pecking occasionally, but Anthony doubted they would actually find anything in this weather.

His corn kernels and nut kernels have finally found appreciative diners, but next to the gray, open-air cafeteria lurks an eyeful killer. Anthony threw the remaining nuts out of his pocket and left quickly with the cat.

The ginger cat already seemed to know the outdoors of Hogwarts better than he did. It took Anthony around the main road with the most people (several students were coming from there, holding a small jar of fire in their hands), passed between a few bare tree trunks, pushed aside the snow, and avoided the snow. From the bushes and rose branches, walk up one foot deep and the other shallow, keep walking up, and then——

The space suddenly opened up before them. This is an undisturbed snowfield. Around them, soft snow lay silently on the tree branches. It's so quiet here, there's not even a bird chirping. On the opposite side of the snow is the end of the cliff. They have reached the mountain.

"Is this where you were when you disappeared?" Anthony asked softly, for fear of breaking the silence here.

The cat is walking through the snow. It plunged into the snow, causing the flat snow to arch up for no reason, revealing its path, and then suddenly jumped out of the snow, revealing a pair of conspicuous yellow ears and half of the cat's face underneath. The quiet snow was suddenly messed up by it.

Anthony laughed and lay down in the snow. He could feel the snow crunching beneath him. The tree suddenly seemed very tall. There was a gray sky above his head, and from the corner of his eye he could still see the high white snow on both sides, like some kind of tailor-made coffin.

The snow started to fall again. Anthony opened his eyes and watched them swirling and falling in the wind. He raised his hand, held it up for a moment, and then held it out in front of his eyes. He stared at the snowflakes and felt a very comfortable sense of relaxation and joy.

He is dead, but he is also alive. The good thing about being dead is that the snowflakes that touch him won't melt, and he can watch them as long as he wants. The advantage of living is that he can encounter snowflakes.

The ginger cat crawled next to him, peeking out from the higher layers of snow and looking down at him. Its cold whiskers tickled Anthony a little, so he reached out and took the cat out. The cat jumped on his chest, turned around, curled up, rested its head on his neck, closed its eyes and seemed to be asleep.

The snowflakes would not melt on the cat's body, but the cat would shake its ears and shake all the snow that fell on the tips of its ears onto Anthony's body.

From Anthony's perspective, the cat looks like a piece of bread sprinkled with icing sugar.

…

The cat didn't wake up until nightfall. Anthony stood up, brushed the snow off himself, and walked slowly down the mountain with the cat.

It was then that he realized what a conspicuous building Hogwarts was. In such a snowy night, the thousands of windows that shine through Hogwarts turn it into a huge beacon, indicating the way back.

Through the dark branches, Anthony could see a somewhat stooped silhouette standing at the gate, undoubtedly Filch. Filch's shadow reflected on the ground, looking like a lanky and vicious giant.

At this time, Anthony saw Filch turn around and walk out of the door. Anthony struggled to follow his figure for a while, only to realize that he was going to talk to another group of people. Judging from one of the tall figures wearing a pointed hat, Anthony would say it was Dumbledore and... someone else.

After a while, Filch went back and closed the oak door, leaving only a small side door. One by one the castle windows were darkened. Curfew.

Anthony quickened his pace, following his cat around Professor Sprout's greenhouse, passing by the frozen snow-covered Black Lake, and finally returned to the road he was familiar with.

He saw Dumbledore and his men still at the gate of the castle. After getting closer, the sound of conversation faintly reached his ears. He heard Professor McGonagall's voice, which seemed to be persuading something. As he got closer, he recognized Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Remus Lupin.

"Seriously, Remus, we are looking for a suitable candidate for the Care of Magical Creatures professorship next term," Professor McGonagall said.

"Thank you, Minerva, but do you really think I'm one of the suitable candidates?" Lupine pointed out, "I'm not even participating in N.E.W.T. for the Care of Magical Creatures."

Professor McGonagall's tone became a little more forced: "But, um...according to Sirius, you often visited the Forbidden Forest when you were a student."

Lupine sounded amused by her: "With him." Then he paused, his voice lowered, "With them, yes. But to be honest, Minerva, I don't remember anything about the Forbidden Forest. Those magical animals usually just run away."

Professor McGonagall really seemed to be beginning to hesitate. Anthony watched the movement of her head turning, and even thought he could see through her tense face and the expression on her face that she was thinking hard and trying to find a solution.

"Oh, Henry!" Professor McGonagall saw the ginger cat walking over and followed its trajectory to see Anthony following behind. "Where did you come back from?" She looked at Anthony's robe that was stained with snow. Looking even more confused.

"I went for a walk," said Anthony. "What about you?" He nodded to Dumbledore and Lupin, both of whom smiled at him.

Professor McGonagall said, "We are going to bury Peter Pettigrew."

Anthony said in surprise: "Today?"

"Yes, Henry." Dumbledore answered him, "A simple small village, a simple funeral. No tombstone."

"I didn't even expect there to be a funeral," Anthony said. "I mean... I didn't expect anyone to actually show up."

Lupine smiled bitterly and said, "Sirius is already angry with me for this."

Dumbledore said gently: "Someone has to dig the holes and fill them in, Henry."

"A funeral with three attendees is enough to be called a funeral," Anthony said.

"Four, actually," said Dumbledore.

Anthony asked in surprise: "Who is the other person? Sirius? Mr. Potter?"

"Cornelly," said Dumbledore, "I guess he's here to make sure we keep things going as quietly as possible, so everyone will think Peter Pettigrew is still in Azkaban." He sighed. "He still refuses to give up those dementors. Or, I think he is frightened by us..."

"Scared?" Anthony asked.

Lupine said: "He acted as if Professor Dumbledore was about to break into the Ministry of Magic and become the new Minister of Magic."

Professor McGonagall said firmly: "And he made the most rude request I have ever heard. I can't believe you agreed, Albus!" She seemed angry at the thought of it, Anthony could Her breathing was heard to become rapid.

Anthony asked with concern: "What is it?"

"Fudge appointed Umbridge as Senior Investigator and wanted her to 'investigate' a series of things that happened in the school-"

"A series of things?"

"Lucius Malfoy must have told him a lot of things... the various accidents during the Quidditch match, the Dark Arts injuries suffered by Mr. Davis - but they were talking about Miss Parkinson and her mother. The quarrel—the curse on Mr. Malfoy, etc. Apparently, the professors at Hogwarts are not good enough in their eyes."

"And you said yes, sir?" Anthony turned to Dumbledore, "Oh my God, why not let Mr. Lupin take the position!"