Chapter 637: The Guilty Sirius (Edited)

The bewildered group was awakened by Fish's voice as a pale Mrs. Weasley made her way through the door.

"Molly, how is Arthur? When will you bring Fish there? Fish will cure him in no time!"

(ΦωΦ)

Fish approached Mrs. Weasley, quickly inquired, and gave her a stabilizing spell to refresh the exhausted woman.

"Thank you, Fish." Mrs. Weasley smiled and hugged Fish, then looked at her children and weakly but calmly said, "He's out of danger and sleeping now. Bill has taken some time off to stay with him. We can go see him later."

Fred sat back in his chair with his hands over his face. George and Ginny got up and approached their mother to give her a quick hug. Ron let out a weak laugh and drank the black tea in front of him.

Harry didn't approach to disturb the Weasleys' joy; he simply laughed cheerfully with Sirius.

"Breakfast!" Sirius jumped and shouted happily, "Where's that wretched house-elf? Kreacher! Kreacher!"

"Don't say that about Kreacher, nya!"

(ω)

Fish protested unsatisfied.

"Fine... sorry." Sirius shrugged insincerely, apologizing half-heartedly.

"Don't worry about it, Master Fish." Out of nowhere, Kreacher made a deep bow to Fish.

Then he looked at Sirius with hatred and said, "Kreacher is used to such rude behavior from the master, my poor mistress wept buckets because of it!"

Sirius didn't bother arguing with him and ordered, "Shut up! Go prepare us breakfast!"

"Of course," Kreacher inclined slightly with a disgusted expression, "Old Kreacher wouldn't let the young Master Fish go hungry."

With that, he disappeared with a snap.

And Mrs. Weasley, after calming her four children, approached Harry and also gave him a tight hug.

"I don't know what would have happened if it weren't for you, Harry," she whispered, "We might not have found Arthur for a few more hours, and then it would have been too late. Thanks to you, you saved his life, and Dumbledore gave a good explanation for why Arthur was there; otherwise, you can't imagine how much trouble he would have been in, just look at the poor..."

Harry couldn't bear her gratitude because he didn't believe he had done anything, and he didn't think it was good that he could empathize with Voldemort's snake.

Fortunately, Mrs. Weasley soon let him go and went to thank Sirius for taking care of her children overnight, and Sirius invited them to stay for Christmas after Fish had healed Mr. Weasley.

"Of course, I think the children will gladly accept your invitation." Mrs. Weasley accepted without hesitation, much to Sirius' joy, as he had been alone for a long time.

After a while, plates of food appeared on the table in the restored kitchen, simple toast, eggs, and bacon, but the joy of it all made them feel good as they ate.

After breakfast, the group returned to their rooms and slept soundly for the rest of the morning.

By the time they woke up refreshed from their beds, Dumbledore had sent their suitcases from Hogwarts so they could go to St. Mungo's in their Muggle clothes.

Of course, Fish didn't have a suitcase; his Muggle clothes had been placed in the magical pocket Dumbledore had given him.

Fish put on jeans and a sweatshirt, then joined Harry and the others downstairs in the restored kitchen for lunch, where Sirius and Mrs. Weasley were already waiting for them.

"Ha! Fish!" Sirius exclaimed with a big smile as he waved the Daily Prophet in his hand. "You have to thank me for this. The Ministry is blaming me for the mess you made last night."

Harry grabbed the newspaper, found the corresponding article, and read it aloud. "Last night, an unpleasant incident occurred near Grimmauld Place in London, where a wizard controlled a large number of stray dogs and cats to attack Muggles... According to the Ministry of Magic, the Ancestral home of the Black family is located within Grimmauld Place, and the wanted man, Sirius Black, is an unregistered Animagus. Therefore, this incident was most likely a provocation by Black against the Ministry of Magic..."

"Fish didn't attack the Muggles!"

(ΦДΦ)

Fish immediately protested upon hearing this. "The Muggles we hit back there were the ones who prevented us from leaving first, so Fish did it, nya!"

Sirius raised his hands and said, "Isn't it typical? As a suspect, of course, they're going to blame me."

Fred glanced at the newspaper Harry held in his hand and asked suspiciously, "I don't think Kingsley or the others are mentioned in the newspaper."

"How could that coward Fudge dare to proclaim something as humiliating as Aurors being beaten by a bunch of animals!"

With the sound of wood tapping, Mad-Eye Moody entered with his staff, followed by Tonks with her vibrant red hair, both dressed in Muggle attire. Moody wore a poorly-fitted top hat on his head.

"Haha! Fish, we meet again!" Tonks ran over to Fish, embracing him tightly. "You caused quite a commotion last night... the entire Ministry of Magic is buzzing because of it."

She laughed and said, "And Kingsley, I've never seen him looking so battered."

As a newly recruited Auror, Tonks considered herself under Kingsley's command and had been lectured by him on many occasions. So, after seeing Kingsley's unfortunate state, covered in bite marks and drool, Tonks reveled in it for a while.

"Finish your lunch," Moody said, not engaging in Tonks' conversation but pausing with his staff in hand. "Then we'll go to St. Mungo's to visit Arthur."

Everyone, including Fish, immediately rushed to the table and sat down, stuffing their mouths with food as quickly as they could.

Soon, everyone had their bellies full, and they followed Moody, Tonks, and Mrs. Weasley outside... Sirius sadly stayed behind once again.

"Fish, tuck in your ears and tail."

Moody reminded Fish, while adjusting the top hat on his head to block his menacing magical eye.

Then, they left Number 12 Grimmauld Place and headed to the Muggle underground station, where, after clumsily purchasing tickets, they all squeezed into the train together.

"It was difficult to find a suitable location for a hospital. Diagon Alley didn't have enough space, and building underground like the Ministry of Magic wasn't hygienic. They finally secured a place in the city center, arguing that the patients could blend in with the crowd..."

On the train, Moody whispered to Harry and the others about St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

They soon arrived at the station, and Fish stepped out with a large pile of food in his arms, all from the Muggles on the train.

Several girls asked for Fish's contact information, but Ginny declined with a "He has a girlfriend."

"Follow me."

Moody took the lead, guiding the group through a wide street lined with shops filled with Christmas shoppers.

Several muggles had tried to approach Fish, but they were discouraged when they saw Moody standing in front of him... his scarred face and wooden orthopedic leg still remained quite intimidating.

When they arrived at a quaint department store called Purge and Dowse Ltd., Moody came to a sudden stop.

"Here it is," he said.

The department store had a decrepit appearance, with only a few cracked mannequins in the display window, sporting twisted wigs and different poses, dressed in clothes that were at least ten years old. A large sign that read "Closed for Renovations" hung on the dusty door.

Not far away, a tall woman with a large handbag said to her companion, "This place has never opened before..."

"Here," Tonks gestured for them to approach a display window where there was an especially ugly female mannequin with falling eyelashes, wearing a green nylon dress.

Everyone moved closer, and then the surrounding muggles, who had been secretly observing Fish, suddenly forgot about him and averted their gaze, going about their business as if nothing had happened.

Tonks approached the window, looking at the hideous doll, exhaling breath that fogged up the glass. "Hello... we've come to see Arthur Weasley."

Then, to Harry's surprise, the doll lowered its gaze, nodded slightly, and waved its joined fingers.

Fish looked at Harry, bewildered...

(?ω?)

Why all the fuss? Platform 9¾, Diagon Alley, and various secret passages and rooms in Hogwarts don't have such peculiar entry methods, do they?

Fish rolled his eyes, followed Mrs. Weasley, and walked straight towards the glass window.