Tens of thousands of Galleons just vanished into thin air—Kael felt a stab of pain in his flesh.
But there was no helping it; compared to all that gold, Hufflepuff's Golden Cup was much more important.
Just like Ravenclaw's Diadem, the Cup was also left behind by one of the Four Founders.
That wastrel Voldemort had turned it into a Soul Artifact, then handed it over to Bellatrix for safekeeping.
But unlike Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix hadn't kept Voldemort's item at her own home; she chose what she thought was a safer place—the Gringotts Vault.
Speaking of Soul Artifacts… aside from the Golden Cup, which he couldn't get his hands on yet, there was another one here that was much closer—even practically within arm's reach.
This was the main reason Kael had agreed to come to 12 Grimmauld Place with Sirius Black.
As for that box, it was completely an unexpected gain; in fact, Kael had never imagined the key to opening it would be Sirius Black himself.
He'd planned to try some ordinary Charms first, and if that didn't work, use Fiendfyre, or ask Nicolas Flamel for help next time he went to Devon.
Thinking of this, Kael glanced at Kreacher, still tied up on the floor, lifted the Locking Spell he'd cast earlier, then turned and asked:
"Sirius, can I have a look around here?"
Kreacher, who was about to leave, froze abruptly at Kael's words.
"Filthy young master brought back a Little Demon, Kreacher's never seen such an evil wizard before. Blew up the drawing room and still isn't satisfied—now wants to blow up other places. Kreacher must guard the Mistress's room, nobody's allowed to destroy it…"
"Shut up, Kreacher!" Sirius couldn't help but shout, "No one wants to wreck the place. If anyone does, it'll be me!"
He looked at Kael again, "There's nothing much to see here, but if you're interested, sure, just be careful—not to wake up any of the portraits.
Also, best not to go alone to the basement, or anywhere above the third floor—I haven't checked those areas yet with Lupin, not sure if they're safe."
"Don't touch the locked cabinet in the drawing room." Lupin spoke up suddenly, "If I'm guessing right, there's a Boggart in there."
He still hadn't forgotten how outrageous Kael's method of handling Boggarts was; if he went at it again, the place might truly be destroyed for real.
Kael smiled. Last time, it was just because he wasn't prepared; now, a Boggart was no big deal for him.
He didn't bother explaining, just pulled out his wand and started restoring the ruined drawing room.
Sirius and Lupin joined in to help.
With the three of them, the place soon returned to its original state.
Kreacher finally stopped muttering under his breath, but still clung tightly to their heels, watching their every move.
"I was meaning to ask you earlier." When they reached the corridor, Kael looked at Sirius, "Did you buy a new wand?"
"Oh, you mean this?" Sirius raised his hand, showing off the wand inlaid with gold and gems in his palm, "Of course not. I'm still wanted these days—how could I just go to Diagon Alley to buy a wand?
This is an old wand I found in the storage cabinet. It works pretty badly, but there's no other choice right now."
Accompanied by Sirius, Kael toured the entrance hall and each room on the second floor.
The lighting here was dim, their shadows cast across the walls, almost melting into the darkness; the place looked just like the lair of some evil wizard.
"First thing I did when cleaning was toss out all these lamps." Sirius said, frowning.
He hated places that were too dark, since Dementors always floated out of the darkness—without any warning.
If things got too dark, he would instinctively recall those bad memories.
Hearing this, Kreacher started muttering again from behind.
This time, Sirius couldn't be bothered; one thing was certain—before Harry moved in, all these old-fashioned gas lamps would have to go. The rooms had to be brightly lit, not a shadowy corner to be found.
After circling the place, they arrived in the second floor living room.
This was a big room, much larger than the drawing room they'd been in earlier.
Kael spotted the cabinet Lupin had mentioned, next to an armchair. Its original purpose was probably for storing important papers, but now it had a Boggart occupying it.
Even from a distance, the cabinet could be seen trembling slightly.
Kael wasn't interested in Boggarts, so after a glance he looked away. Across on the wall stood a bigger glass-door cabinet, filled with all sorts of odd things.
Kael walked over.
"If I ever do a full cleaning, first thing to go will be everything in here."
Sirius stepped up, speaking with disgust, "Nearly all of these are Dark Arts Items—they loved this stuff, flaunted it like treasure…"
Kael eyed the glass cabinet. In the center sat an open, dust-grey box, inside was a Merlin Order Medal. Kael had one himself, but his ribbon was purple; the one in front of him was green.
The Merlin Order First-class Medal, awarded to Sirius's grandfather, in recognition of his 'contributions to the Ministry of Magic.'
"Which basically means handing them a pile of gold." Sirius said with contempt. "A Dark Wizard was wreaking havoc in the Magic Realm back then, and they needed gold to recruit more Aurors."
"Swapping for a First-class Medal…" Kael muttered quietly, "That must've been an enormous sum of gold."
"No idea the exact amount," Sirius replied. "They say it was half the gold in the Vault. He thought that would raise the Black Family's honor and status."
"Half the gold—he really didn't hold back!" Kael clicked his tongue in surprise, then kept searching.
Next to the box was a silver snuffbox. Kael poked it with his wand and it snapped open in the middle, turning into a big mouth that tried to bite the wand, while spraying grey-brown powder everywhere.
This powder was much like one of Zonko's prank products—it stuck to you and formed an ugly hard shell. Not much actual harm though—a simple Scouring Charm would clean it right up.
On the left was a particularly hideous piece of silverware, shaped like a spider with tweezers for legs, which also moved like a spider.
As soon as the cabinet door was opened, it tried to crawl away, but Sirius crushed it with a thick book.
A music box, painted with a group of twisted shadows—not likely anything good, either.
A pile of ancient, ornate seals—those were fairly normal,
And then… at that moment, Kael's heart suddenly skipped two beats.
He'd found it; in an inconspicuous corner lay a golden Pendant Box.
...