Homecoming from Hogwarts

Wow-——

A harsh sound of brakes woke up Grimmauld Place, which was immersed in the snow. The sudden strong wind tore the snowflakes floating in the air, and the vibration of the air shook a rusty light tube a few steps away. The wiring laid inside had poor contact, and the dim lights flashed rhythmically.

"vomit--"

Harry was the first to rush off the knight bus. He completely ignored Stan Sampark's warm farewell to him and squatted on the snow that was not much thinner than the snow on the grounds of Hogwarts. Lee retched, and Hermione and Ron behind him also bent over after getting out of the car, supporting their knees with their hands, gasping weakly.

"The wizard who designed this car should be sent to Azkaban for life—"

Ron gasped and said angrily.

"I swear--"

The cold but fresh air made Harry feel much better, and it already gave him enough energy to observe this small square in the suburbs of London.

The small circular square is surrounded by single-family buildings, which look neatly arranged, but these buildings are very old, and the fronts of the houses are gloomy, looking like they are far away from people. The windows of some houses without a single light were completely broken, and even the walls had shocking cracks, as if they had suffered an earthquake. The inhabited houses were not decent either. Harry saw the cracks of several houses. Trash was piled outside the front steps.

"--If I do the Knight Bus again, I'll be poisoned by Snape!"

Harry gulped down the cold air and swore.

"I advise you to retract this oath, Harry -"

Sirius was the last one to get out of the car. His face was pale and he was panting. This was mainly because he was carrying two large boxes alone.

"Because the probability of this kind of oath being fulfilled is very high. Speaking of which, Hermione, what did you put in the box? Your box alone is heavier than Harry and Ron combined -"

"Oh, sorry, Sirius—" Hermione's cheeks turned red, "I brought a few books to kill time—"

"Books? To pass the time? Oh, don't bother, we can solve the problem with magic."

Sirius smiled helplessly. He blocked Hermione's hand that wanted to help. After looking around warily, he gently tapped two large boxes with his wand. The two boxes trembled slightly and floated in the snow. layer one inch,

"Come with me, you three, we'd better not let Muggles see it, otherwise, Molly will definitely blame me for causing Arthur to work overtime during the Christmas holiday--"

Sirius's joke made the three Harrys chuckle. They helped push the box floating in the air and followed Sirius to a wooden door with peeling black paint.

The door's knocker was a large silver snake. Its ferocious appearance made Harry, who was always in a state of excitement, frown slightly. He remembered the snake he encountered when he entered the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets in the second year. Weird, but he also knew that Sirius's ancestors all came from Slytherin House, so there was nothing to say about it.

Speaking of which, as the new year has come, they have become less prejudiced against Slytherin House.

When talking about this school, it is often the case that is not the person, and this is undoubtedly due to the subtle influence of a certain professor who was born in Slytherin.

"Come in, you--"

After Sirius knocked on the door with his wand, there was a series of loud metal collision sounds from behind the door, and warm air flowed out from the gradually opening gaps.

“This place used to be quite unimpressive, but now it’s much better.”

After Sirius crossed the threshold first, he turned around and waved to the three Harrys with a smile.

Since entering the wizarding world, the only wizarding family Harry has been to is the Weasley family, and Ron's home satisfied Harry's best fantasy of a complete wizarding family. He couldn't wait to squeeze in with Sirius. I want to see what my godfather's home looks like.

The air was filled with a faint scent of incense, but underneath the scent, there was a faint smell of decay. This was not surprising, because since this house was Sirius's ancestral home, it must have been there for a long time. , and, during the years when Sirius was unjustly imprisoned, the house had been in a state of derelict.

Feeling someone entering, the gas lamps hanging on the walls on both sides of the long and narrow hall lit up one after another, emitting a bright light. Harry noticed that the metal brackets of these gas lamps connected to the wall were partly stained with rust, but the glass lampshades were indeed very Clean, and the wallpaper and carpet underfoot are also new, especially the carpet——

The carpet under their feet was not simple. The patterns displayed by the different-colored silk threads on the cashmere carpet were changing all the time. Harry and Ron, who had been caught, looked at it for a while before they realized that these 'flowing' patterns what exactly is it.

"This is the picture of Krum using Wonsky's fake move to contain Lynch in the World Cup!" Harry said in surprise, "Also, this is -" "The classic picture of the last World Cup!" Ron stared. Eyes added, "This rug is so cool!"

"I knew you would like it!" Sirius smiled proudly, "This carpet cost me about two months' salary!"

Hermione raised her eyebrows, obviously not agreeing with Sirius's behavior of using one or two hundred gold coins to buy a carpet. However, after all, the Black family's loneliness happened over the past few years. Before that, the Black family was still a famous family in the wizarding world. ', and Sirius, who was born into a noble family, obviously has a different concept of money than ordinary people.

"Leave the box here, Kreacher will take care of it later-"

"Is Kreacher okay?"

Hermione immediately became energetic, and she followed behind Sirius and asked, while Harry and Ron walked forward while looking at the flowing wool under their feet in fascination.

"So-so, right?"

There was a confusing hesitation in Sirius' tone,

"Since I made up my mind to change this house, it has been reluctant to appear in front of me——"

Sirius patted the walls on both sides casually,

"There used to be portraits of many ancestors of the Black family hanging here. Some of the portraits were completely damaged. I found a room to store them separately, but Kreacher didn't want to. He always hung those portraits back up secretly when I wasn't at home. Where it was, I had a big fight with it and gave it orders before it surrendered. Be careful, you three--"

Hermione's arm hung on a curtain on the wall, and Sirius immediately said nervously,

"Behind this curtain is the last portrait. I can't get it down, so you have to be careful. She won't welcome the guests I bring back--"

Sirius' words caught their attention, and the two boys finally looked away from the carpet. They glanced at the curtain curiously, and then followed Sirius to a door.

The stairs on the right side of the door led upstairs. Harry glanced curiously at the slightly dark upstairs, and then followed Sirius into the door.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione, are you okay?"

A group of people walked down the stairs and passed a Christmas tree with mistletoe and ribbons hanging on it and surrounded by several fairies placed opposite the bottom step of the stairs. They looked at the rough stone walls on all sides, but it looked very neat. kitchen.

There was a long table in the kitchen that could accommodate many dining chairs, and Remus was sitting at the other end of the long table, smiling at them.

Harry and the three of them had happy smiles on their faces.

Compared with that time during the summer vacation, Remus's cheeks looked a little plumper, which made him look younger. Moreover, the faint melancholy between his eyebrows had almost disappeared, and there were a few extra lines between his eyebrows. The vertical lines on the ground cut off Remus' gentle temperament, giving him a bit more dignity.

"Not bad, Remus—"

Harry walked over and glanced at the pile of scattered parchment on the table in front of Remus. On it were various tables and graphics that Harry couldn't understand.

"How about you, how is your business with the goblins?"

"call--"

In front of these people, Remus didn't need to hide too much. He smiled wryly and shrugged.

"I can only say that it is much more troublesome than being your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor!"

(End of this chapter)