Chapter 197: The Night Father

After noticing the signature, Harry's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly realized that Sirius might have been constrained by his identity and couldn't openly reveal everything in the letter. As he subtly implied, he feared the letter might be intercepted by Death Eaters and compromise his undercover operation within the dark side.

In the following days, Sirius's letters and the news he mentioned—that the Stasis Charm could be used in combat—gave Harry a renewed sense of purpose. As time passed, he became highly proficient in swordsmanship and sword-flight, skillfully wielding the Seven Deadly Sins, which further strengthened Harry's confidence.

Meanwhile, Neville wrote to Harry that Rita had published an extravagantly exaggerated article in the domestic press. The front page was entirely filled with a close-up photo of Harry, and the entire article focused on him, portraying his statements in increasingly grandiose terms, as if he had already claimed the champion title and was preparing to challenge Voldemort from afar.

The most outrageous line was this: "Notably, many renowned great wizards, such as Dumbledore or the Dark Lord, failed to win the Triwizard Tournament during their school years." This made Harry's scar throb all afternoon, and he kept seeing hallucinations of Voldemort tearing up the newspaper and roaring in rage.

Finally, those days slipped away, and the November 22nd Harry had been waiting for arrived. Early that morning, he stood alone at the train exit, glancing around occasionally. When a faint mist began to rise from the forest, he finally noticed a black dog at the forest's edge—this must have been his godfather's Animagus form. Yet, compared to the long-haired great dog he had Ouran seen last year, Bigfoot had changed again. His fur looked sleek and glossy, just the right length, tightly clinging to his body; his neck was elongated, exuding an air of elegant grace.

After Harry followed him deeper into the forest, Sirius shed his transformation. He seemed to straighten up, and in the blink of an eye, he became a man dressed in a long black overcoat.

This version of Sirius differed from the one Harry had seen over the summer—he had shaved off most of his beard, leaving only a short stubble. His hair was cut much shorter, neatly hugging his scalp. Beneath the overcoat, he wore a white shirt and black suit, with a delicate tie, his expression slightly fierce, tinged with the cold detachment of one who had seen too much death.

"Harry, how are you?" As he spoke, all the fierceness on his face melted into gentleness.

"I'm fine, godfather," Harry said. "But have you run into some trouble? Your letter was so… cautious."

"I've run into some things—I can't say yet whether they're good or bad," Sirius slowly removed his leather gloves and began walking. "Where should I start?"

"Why did you use a pseudonym?" Harry walked beside him through the forest.

"It's like this," Sirius said. "I think it was after the Quidditch World Cup. More and more Death Eaters came looking for me—until finally, Antonin Dolohov found me."

"He's a Death Eater—or rather, one of the Dark Lord's inner circle. He's gathering forces to attack Hogwarts, and naturally, he wouldn't overlook the figure of the Night Father."

"I originally planned to seize him then," Sirius continued, "but I feared it would alert them and disrupt your plans. Then it occurred to me—if I could infiltrate their plot to attack Hogwarts, I could uncover the true conspiracy behind it, which would be invaluable."

"I needed to earn his trust, but I didn't dare gamble on whether Dolohov knew who betrayed James. So I changed my story." Sirius took a deep breath. "I used my brother's identity—he was once a staunch Death Eater, then vanished for reasons unknown. I knew him well enough to impersonate him perfectly—and we looked quite similar anyway."

"So now you're publicly claiming to be Regulus?" Harry remembered the unusual signature.

"I told him I've been hunting down the one who killed my brother," Sirius smirked. "They all know the man in Azkaban isn't the real Sirius. I convinced them the real Sirius was involved in a secret mission for the Dark Lord—and died in the process."

"But won't the Dark Lord expose you?" Harry asked, concerned.

"Dolohov won't be stupid enough to ask, 'Which secret mission was Sirius involved in?' He'll only ask, 'Is Regulus one of us?'" Sirius said. "Obviously, Regulus is one of us—and apparently trusted by the Dark Lord. He didn't even investigate further; he just dropped by, glanced at me, said 'Do well,' and left."

"The Dark Lord came to see you?" Harry couldn't help drawing a sharp breath.

"Don't worry—it's my new office. It's remote, perfect for doing unsavory things. At the time, they were torturing a group of drug dealers."

"He came, exchanged a few casual words with me, then was quickly drawn by the Muggles' screams. He enthusiastically cast a few Cruciatus Curses himself. Before leaving, he told me to 'cooperate with Dolohov as you see fit.' Clearly, he was pleased with the gang."

"Indeed, nothing earns the Dark Lord's trust like torturing Muggles," Harry nodded.

"Thus, I joined their plan to attack Hogwarts—and finally learned a terrifying piece of news." Sirius paused. "They intend to use dark creatures: organize vampires, werewolves, giants, and someone even suggested commanding the eight-legged spiders in the Forbidden Forest."

"The spiders in the Forbidden Forest have already been cleared," Harry said blankly, terrified by the cruel plan but unable to think of any viable countermeasure.

"That's good news," Sirius continued. "In fact, I already have a plan. After some investigation, I found that the werewolves' leader is Fenrir Greyback. He leads most of them away from society, surviving by theft and murder. Most werewolves have no political ambitions—they simply believe following the Dark Lord will improve their lives. But in truth, the Dark Lord still ignores them, and most Death Eaters look down on werewolves."

In Harry's puzzled gaze, Sirius delivered his conclusion: "Vampires are in the same position, but I'm focusing on werewolves because we actually have a trustworthy werewolf friend."

"I now have enough resources—money, people—I can help werewolves live better, if they accept a new leader." Sirius smiled faintly. "And of course, that new leader will be very reasonable. I've never met anyone more reasonable than Lupin."

"Lup…in?" Harry could barely follow Sirius's train of thought.

"Exactly," Sirius said. "Whether evil or good, werewolves face the same survival pressure: rejection by society. But that's not hard to solve. If werewolves band together, settle in a remote place, we won't have to worry about these issues. They only transform on the full moon; otherwise, they're ordinary people who can work. And werewolf population is small—we only need to invest in one or two factories to support them all."

"Find an isolated location, build labor-intensive industries—textile, electronics, food processing. As long as werewolves produce value, we won't lose money. Once their products earn some income, we can open consumer outlets in the werewolves' nation, attracting other merchants. With fifty percent profit, they'll risk being bitten to invest."

"I'm grateful to your Muggle relative, Sir Crowley—he gave me many entirely different solutions." Sirius nodded. "Werewolves can support themselves through honest labor and live freely in this world."

"So you plan to use Muggle methods to support werewolves?" Harry's eyes lit up—Sirius's idea was highly constructive.

"You taught me this," Sirius said. "Rather than letting unstable elements roam freely, organize them. My own gangs too—later, have them deliver goods and trade with the werewolves. Once they live in peace and comfort, few will want to follow the Dark Lord in terrorist attacks."

"I've also chosen the location for the werewolf nation: Albania." Sirius spoke seriously. "I've carefully studied the Dark Lord's movements. After his last defeat by you, he seemed to resurrect in Albania. Before Quirrell became a Death Eater, his final stop was the forests of Albania. I believe something is wrong there. If we station our own force there, it will surely restrain the Dark Lord."

"I plan to talk further with Lupin over Christmas break. He actually agrees with this plan, but he's worried about the Hogwarts children." Sirius rubbed his chin. "If this succeeds, two-thirds of the alliance attacking Hogwarts will be under our control."

Harry took a deep breath. For the first time, he deeply realized that his godfather was not merely his own godfather.