Brighter Than the Sun

Chapter Seventy-Five

Luke and I left the castle the next day to find a weak silver sun shining down upon the grounds. The weather was milder than it had been all year, and by the time we arrived in Hogsmeade, we'd taken off our cloaks and thrown them over our shoulders. We got lunch at the Three Broomsticks and walked around Hogsmeade, talking about whatever. About an hour later we saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione leaving Gladrags Wizardwear. They waved us over.

"Hi, strangers," I greeted them.

"How long have you been here?" Hermione asked us

"Well, we came here for lunch. Is it almost two?"

"It's one-thirty."

"Oh, okay. We should be heading over, then." I turned to Luke. "Are you coming, or...?"

"Nah," Luke replied. "You guys go ahead, I'll see you at dinner."

We left Luke and headed up the High Street. I pointed at the bag Harry was carrying from Gladrags. "What's in there?"

"Socks for Dobby," Harry replied.

"Ooh, let me see," I said.

Harry had clearly bought the wackiest socks he could find. There was a pair patterned with flashing gold and silver stars, and another that apparently screamed loudly when they became too smelly.

"We brought Sirius food as well," Harry said, opening his bag to reveal a dozen chicken legs, a loaf of bread, and a flask of pumpkin juice they'd snuck from the lunch table. "Do you think we brought enough?"

"Any amount of Hogwarts food is always enough," I told him.

We walked past Dervish and Banges, and out toward the edge of the village. I'd never been in this direction before. The winding lane was leading us out into the wild countryside around Hogsmeade. There weren't as many cottages up here, and they were more spaced out. We were walking toward the foot of the mountain near Hogsmeade. Then we turned a corner and saw a stile at the end of the lane. Waiting for us, its front paws on the topmost bar, was a familiar large, shaggy black dog, which was carrying some newspapers in its mouth.

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "Hi!"

"Hello, Sirius," said Harry. Sirius sniffed Harry's bag eagerly, wagged his tail once, then turned and began to trot away from them across the scrubby patch of ground that rose to meet

the rocky foot of the mountain. We climbed over the stile and followed.

Sirius led us to the very foot of the mountain, where the ground was covered with boulders and rocks. It was easy for him, with his four paws, and I'd had experience with the lava climbing wall, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione were soon out of breath. We followed Sirius higher, up onto the mountain itself. For nearly half an hour we climbed a steep, winding, and stony path, following Sirius's wagging tail.

Finally, Sirius slipped out of sight, and when we reached the place where he had vanished, they saw a narrow fissure in the rock.

"That's going to be tight," I muttered. We squeezed into it and found ourselves in a cool, dimly lit cave. Tethered at the end of it, one end of his rope around a large rock, was Buckbeak the hippogriff. Buckbeak's fierce orange eyes flashed at the sight of us. All four of us bowed low to him, and after regarding us imperiously for a moment, Buckbeak bent his scaly front knees and allowed Hermione and I to rush forward and stroke his feathery neck.

"How did he get you in here, Buckbeak?" I wondered, as the hippogriff made a contented sound in the back of his throat.

The black dog changed into Sirius. He was wearing ragged gray robes; the same ones he had been wearing when he had left Azkaban. His black hair was longer than it had been when he had appeared in the fire, and it was untidy and matted once more. He looked very thin.