Destined| Goblet of Fire: Book 4

DAD

Kiana

"Hello, Sirius," said Harry when we had reached him.

"Hello, Dad," I said cheerfully.

"Hey Dad," Cedric chuckled.

The black dog sniffed my bag eagerly, wagged its 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. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Jake, Cedric and I climbed over the stile and followed. Dad 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, but the five of us were soon out of breath. We followed dad higher, up onto the mountain itself. For nearly half an hour we climbed a steep, winding, and stony path, following Dad's wagging tail, sweating in the sun, the shoulder straps of my bag cutting into my shoulders. Then, at last, Dad slipped out of sight, and when we reached the place where he had vanished, I saw a narrow fissure in the rock. 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. Half gray horse, half giant eagle, Buckbeak's fierce orange eye flashed at the sight of them. All five of us bowed low to him, and after regarding them imperiously for a moment, Buckbeak bent his scaly front knees and allowed me to rush forward and stroke his feathery neck.

"So the bird gets your love before your dear old dad," Dad chuckled.

I finished petting Buckbeak and I ran into my dad's arms.

"I've missed you dad," I smiled.

"I've missed all of you," Dad chuckled. "How's the others?"

"Christian is a menace and Kayla is crazy," Cedric chuckled.

"They're doing fine, we just finished having drinks with them," Harry answered.

"Cedric my boy you have my hair," Dad said.

Cedric blushed. Dad 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.

"Chicken," he said hoarsely after removing the old Daily Prophets from his mouth and throwing them down onto the cave floor.

I pulled open my bag and handed over the bundle of chicken legs and bread.

"Thanks darling," said Dad, opening it, grabbing a drumstick, sitting down on the cave floor, and tearing off a large chunk with his teeth. "I've been living off rats mostly. Can't steal too much food from Hogsmeade; I'd draw attention to myself."

He grinned up at Cedric,Harry and I, but we returned the grin only reluctantly

"What're you doing here, Sirius?" he said.

"Fulfilling my duty as godfather and a father," said Dad, gnawing on the chicken bone in a very doglike way. "Don't worry about it, I'm pretending to be a lovable stray."

He was still grinning, but seeing the anxiety in Cedric, Harry and my face, said more seriously, "I want to be on the spot. Your last letter . . . well, let's just say things are getting fishier. I've been stealing the paper every time someone throws one out, and by the looks of things, I'm not the only one who's getting worried."

He nodded at the yellowing Daily Prophets on the cave floor, and Jake picked them up and unfolded them. I, however, continued to stare at Dad.

"What if they catch you? What if you're seen?" I began to ask.