Chapter 242: Home Installation Service for the Lift
Finally, the train arrived at its destination: Platform Nine and Three-Quarters at King's Cross Station. A few figures strode purposefully through the crowd, yet no one seemed to see them, as people instinctively stepped aside to avoid them.
There were six of them: Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Grindelwald, Lupin, Lockhart, and Percy Weasley.
From King's Cross Station, they walked for about 20 minutes until they finally reached their destination. It was located between Number 11 and Number 13, Grimmauld Place. As Dumbledore waved his wand, a house squeezed out of the narrow gap between the two buildings.
This place… Lockhart had been here before.
Number 12, Grimmauld Place—the Black family townhouse!
Although the Statute of Secrecy mandated that all wizards must live in wizarding communities, no matter how powerful the Ministry of Magic became—even creating an armed force like the Auror Department, which was unprecedented in wizarding history, to enforce this policy—they could not force the powerful pure-blood families to abandon their ancestral homes.
So, a very interesting situation arose. Most wizards lived in wizarding communities or villages, while these old pure-blood families lived next door to Muggles.
"Tsk," Grindelwald looked at the dilapidated old house with disdain, then at the house numbers on either side, Number 11 and Number 13. He scoffed, "It's too deliberate. Anyone could guess there might be a house hidden here."
Then he gestured to the damaged facade of Number 11. "Why not buy that house as well and pretend to live in it as Muggles, so it can work in concert with Number 12?"
Dumbledore looked back at him as if to say, Only you could think of that.
Grindelwald rolled his eyes, not bothering to say anything more. He was right. At least Lockhart agreed that some of Dumbledore's arrangements were indeed quite sloppy.
But no matter what, this would be the future headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.
As Dumbledore walked up and knocked on the door, a rather scruffy figure opened it.
"Sirius!" A very excited Lupin called out from the side, rushing forward to hug him.
The reunion of old friends, without any rifts from their past experiences, was a brotherhood to be envied.
The front of the Black family townhouse was on a Muggle street, so no one wanted to linger for too long and they quickly went inside.
Lockhart and Percy were the last to enter. Lockhart looked up at the clearly decaying house, at the peeling paint on the door, the scratches all over it, and the dirty walls. He couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy.
The Black family was known as the most ancient and noble pure-blood family among the Sacred Twenty-Eight, yet it had fallen into such a state of disrepair.
Stepping over the threshold, they were met by a dark entrance hall. The air was damp, filled with a faint smell of mold and a sickly-sweet scent of decay. The wallpaper was peeling off the walls, and the threadbare, dirty carpet on the floor was covered in muddy footprints.
The Black family worshipped bad omens, and many of the decorations in the house were in the shape of snakes, making the interior feel particularly eerie.
Dumbledore could stand it; his expression was as calm as ever, having grown up in a family that was on the verge of ruin.
Grindelwald, on the other hand, could not. He looked at Sirius, who had been living there for some time, with utter disgust. He couldn't resist pulling out his wand and pointing it around the room.
In an instant, everything seemed to rewind in time. The house, from its dilapidated state, became magnificent once more.
The wallpaper was re-affixed to the walls, the dusty carpet regained its proper color, the mold in the corners and the strange smells in the air completely vanished. In a single moment, even the light streaming in from the windows became bright and clean.
It was the work of a single spell.
Of course, it was a spell only a Magic Master could perform. If Sirius or even Kreacher, the last house-elf of the Black family, were to do it, it would be a huge undertaking.
The sight directly stunned Percy Weasley and left Sirius completely dumbfounded.
He looked at the familiar yet strange surroundings with a complex expression. Before he could say anything, a wailing sound suddenly came from a corner. It was the house-elf, Kreacher, crying out in agony, reminiscing about the family's past glory and cursing the outsiders who now occupied the family home.
Sirius was enraged and was about to go kick him, but Grindelwald stopped him.
Grindelwald's gaze was as cold as ice. "Strictly speaking, you've been disowned by the family, so you are indeed an outsider."
Sirius looked furious, glaring at Grindelwald with a reckless attitude. "So what?"
"So what?" Grindelwald laughed. "It means you don't have the right to command this house-elf. It means you are not its master. It means it could appear at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix and betray all its information at any time."
"He wouldn't dare!!!" Sirius roared.
"To him, he is only trying to drive out the outsiders who have occupied the family property. He is righteous," Grindelwald shrugged. "The righteous have nothing to fear, not even death."
With that, he lightly raised his wand and pointed it at Kreacher. "If you don't mind, I can help you deal with this hidden danger. After all, you all call yourselves good people and are unable to do this."
"Don't!" Sirius panicked. He lunged forward, blocking Grindelwald's wand with his hand. He didn't know how to convince this Dark Lord, so he could only look at Dumbledore imploringly. "Don't kill him, please!"
Kreacher looked up at Sirius's back in disbelief, and for a moment, he forgot to wail.
Dumbledore reached out and grabbed Grindelwald's arm, shaking his head. "I don't think we should punish someone for an evil they haven't committed yet."
Grindelwald sneered. "No wonder the wizarding world is in this state under your leadership!"
Dumbledore only looked at him with gentle resolve, neither arguing nor speaking. In the end, Grindelwald put down his wand, visibly annoyed.
"Ahem~"
Lockhart coughed twice, drawing everyone's attention, and then said, "Actually, there is still one official member of the Black family. If he agrees, Sirius can rejoin the Black family."
Dumbledore frowned in thought. "I don't remember there being an official member of the Black family still alive?"
Lockhart explained, "It's a ghostly existence, neither dead nor alive."
Dumbledore couldn't help but guess if it was Phineas Black, one of the portraits of the former headmasters hanging in the Hogwarts Headmaster's office. But magical portraits couldn't make such decisions; that was the rule in the wizarding world.
He soon had his answer.
Lockhart strode forward and cast a black flame spell that was characteristic of the Black family, lighting the fireplace. In the flames, a figure appeared in the rocking chair in front of the fireplace.
It was a thin, old man, but he looked full of vigor, with a sharp glint in his eyes.
"Hello, Mr. Arcturus Black." Lockhart bowed with a smile.
"And you are?" The old man looked at him, confused.
"I'm here for the lift installation service." Lockhart grinned. "My name is Gilderoy Lockhart."
The old Mr. Black had clearly never heard the name and looked around blankly. His gaze finally settled on someone else. "Grindelwald!!!!"
Grindelwald looked him up and down with interest. "You still remember me?"
The old Mr. Black's face soured. "You were the one who killed me. Do you think I would forget you?"
For a moment, everyone around them looked strange. So Dumbledore had to step forward. "Arcturus, it's been a long time!"
The old man looked at Dumbledore, a bit dazed. It took him a while to realize who this long-haired, long-bearded old man was. "Albus?"
"Yes." Dumbledore smiled. He gestured to the hesitant-looking Sirius not far away. "This is Sirius. Do you remember him? The last descendant of your family, but he was disowned by your son."
"The last descendant…"
The old man looked a little sad. "Orion was always so impulsive," he muttered. He looked at Sirius, who was being nudged forward by Lupin, and a happy smile appeared on his face. "What Orion said doesn't count. I never agreed to disown Sirius. He is a good boy who bravely seeks himself and breaks free from the shackles of the family!"
Tears streamed down Sirius's face. He let out a sob and fell to his knees in front of the old Mr. Black, weeping.
"Get up, stop crying. Whether it was right or wrong, life should be about trying bravely. It's not a sin!"
He looked at his grandson with a kind expression, shouting with some emotion, "Kreacher! Kreacher! You're still alive, aren't you?"
Kreacher scrambled over in excitement, crying. "Master, Master, I'm here!"
The old Mr. Black looked at Kreacher with sadness. "You've grown old, too."
Kreacher immediately knelt on the ground and started crying with him.
"Alright, alright, no more crying," the old man commanded. "Kreacher, the family tree is still on the wall, isn't it? Go add Sirius's name back to it!"
"Master!" Kreacher exclaimed. "Sirius betrayed the Blacks! He doesn't deserve it!"
The old man only smiled at him. He didn't just give a direct order because Kreacher was a house-elf. Instead, he calmly persuaded him, "Kreacher, what do you think is better? The Black family perishing completely, or having a successor?"
Kreacher was stunned. His rather dull mind couldn't grasp such a complicated matter.
"Go on. Add his name." The old man was astute. Dumbledore and Grindelwald were here, and so was Sirius. This scene meant that the Black family might be able to rise again. Even if it wasn't for personal sentiment, he had to consider the family's future.
The last descendant… There was no other choice. What else was there to choose?
"Go on. Come show me after you've added it."
Kreacher was loyal. No matter how unwilling he was, he had to obey.
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