The Forest Guardians

36. HP Chapter 7

Mike's POV

As I entered the Great Hall the next morning, I realised that it was alive with loud and excited raucous talking among the students. Not that it wasn't alive before, but the atmosphere held this sense of excitement that it couldn't be doused down.

Today was the Quidditch match between Hufflepuffs and Gryffindor.

It seemed that last night's event has conveniently made me forgot about it.

"Professor Evans!"

I searched around for the source until I spotted Harry, Hermione and Ron walking towards me.

"Which house are you going to cheer for?" Ron asked excitedly.

"I'm impartial to these things. I will cheer for both houses."

"No. Seriously, who do you think will win?"

I gave a mysterious smile.

"I don't know."

"But you seemed like you know something!" Ron pressed on.

"Not really. Now, if you will excuse me, I haven't had my breakfast."

I left them standing there while I increased my walking speed to the teachers' table. The Quidditch match could wait, food was more important at the current moment.

"Micheal, I thought yer were gonna miss yer breakfast!" Hagrid clapped my back which almost made me choked on my drink.

"Hagrid, you're going to make him choke with that slap." Professor Mcgonagall chided while eating.

I coughed slightly, "no, it's quite alright, Minerva."

"Let's hope the match goes well. With Black on the loose and the dementors around the school, let's hope this match takes our mind off of these things." One of the teachers muttered.

Hearing that, I resisted a grim smile because this match would be quite eventful.

~~~~~

"Professor?"

The student beside me knitted his brows at my sudden movement. I stood up from my seat so quickly in the middle of the match that I startled some of them. Rain has poured so much that it had made visibility so difficult but it had not dampened the atmosphere of the match. So much so that some students were cursing under their breath because I was blocking them from spectating the match.

"It's alright. I'm just going around for a while."

I flashed a polite smile before leaving quickly, my wand was already out of my pocket.

There was a growing sense of unease within me. I noticed how the crowd drastically changed their demeanour towards the ongoing game. They were a lot more rash and aggressive and the players from Hufflepuff and Gryffindor were getting more and more agitated. Dementors don't cause negativity within the crowd, meaning...

Shadows. And a large population of them hiding in the woods.

I made sure that I was well out of the stands and that there was no one around.

Or so I thought, until I saw a big black dog sitting on the ground. It was watching the match with such intensity yet its ears perked at the sound of wood creaking from the stairs of the stands. Immediately, he turned around, spotting me standing there at the stairs like some drenched rat about to commit some shady business.

"You can't be Sirius. Nope, you're just a big black dog that just came out of nowhere."

I muttered as I fast walked towards the forest. It barked and appeared in front of me, stopping me in my tracks.